Why Me
by Deadric
Summary: Our hero is from a D&D type word and one day finds himself in a Ranma Sailor Moon world. Now be patient, it does take until the 5th chapter for our hero to get to Japan... And yes, this is a crossover of a few different Anime and ideas.
1. Chapter 1

Why Me

Chapter 1

He was somewhat... unsure as to how he had gotten himself into this situation. He had been minding his own business, not bothering anybody, and a war just drops into his lap. Well, nothing can be done about now. Just have to go along with it. Sigh.

It all started when that stupid lord hired a bunch or mercenaries to expand his holdings....

It was a nice spring, the planting had gone well and fast. He was continuing his training as the one who would take over at the local weapon smith's place (he had been training and studying since he was old enough to talk). The fellow who currently owned it went by the name of Jirin, a High Elf. He was an odd sort of fellow (according to most) because he had never married (he was about retirement age for an elf, though he looked as though he were still in his prime). Though there were some people who thought highly of him because he had taken me in when I was an infant.

My parents had died when I was only six months old. They were new to town and had built a bit further away than most people would normally build. That was the problem. When the Orcs of the region attacked, they were the first ones hit. I was lucky, Jirin always tells me, that he just happened to be coming by to deliver an order for my father. Jirin not only knows how to make weapons, but knows how to use them fairly well. Jirin is also fond of telling me that they were exceedingly lucky that most of the force kept on going and that only a dozen orcs stayed behind to have fun with this one house.

To make that long story short, he got there in time to see my father being killed (there were already seven dead orcs laying about the small house), and my mother turning to flee just to get a spear in the back. Jirin caught them by surprise, he says, and was able to save me. I was sure when I was little that he was just as lucky as he claimed to be, but I now know that he is a rather skilled warrior of a unique kind.

Anyway, I digress.

I was continuing my study of weapons craft when there was a call from a messenger hailing from our local lord, Lord Dimitri. The page in the village square was reading the announcement when we got there. To paraphrase (because it was very wordy), it said that Lord Dimitri was calling all loyal men of fighting age to service (conscripted!!) to the castle. Jirin was not too pleased with that. The messenger proceeded to tell the village (in a rather nasal voice) that he would be back in two days with the town registry to pick everyone up, for he still needed to do a few things, he said.

Now that caused a commotion. Everyone was speaking at the same time. The messenger then left with his escort a few moments later. Jirin immediately took me by the arm and dragged me to the shop.

"I have been dreading a day such as this." Jirin said as he quickly went about gathering things.

"You mean that you were expecting something like this to happen?" Joram asked, somewhat confused.

"You could say that." Jirin replied distractedly as he continued to gather things from about the shop and then the attached house. Joram followed.

Jirin went about gathering some of Joram's clothing into a shoulder satchel he had been carrying about with him. He then went to the pantry and took out some of the way bread that he always kept there. He also took out a glass bottle (rather well made, no bubbles in the glass) from way back in the pantry.

"Now, this bottle will never run out of water. It is very useful in case there is no water to be had. Keep it well hidden, for there are those who would take it from you should they learn of it." Jirin admonished as it too went into the satchel.

"Are you not coming with me?" Joram asked, rather confused at this point, and somewhat scared.

"I am of no age to be going to war. I have had enough of that in my day." Jirin replied. "Besides, this is a good opportunity for you to practice what you have learned from me." He finished with a most mischievous grin. Joram could tell it was somewhat forced.

You see, along with the scholarly learning and the knowledge of weapon smithing he received from Jirin, he also learned how to fight and affect things with… his inner energy. Jirin called this energy Chakra. Jirin was definitely not your run of the mill elf that would rather sing and dance than fight. Jirin liked the swordplay.

"Do you think that I will be able to do well?" Joram asked in sincere doubt. Jirin had always kicked his sorry butt around the practice yard....

"What, you think that the rest of the farmers will be able to fight as well as you?" Jirin mocked. "You will be able to fight with the best of them. Of that I do not doubt. Now, be sure not to let anyone see you perform the Jutsu that I have taught you. There could be some rather uncomfortable questions asked should they see you." Jirin finished off rather seriously.

"Don't worry, I won't get careless." Joram reassured his father (for that is what he called him). "I just don't look forward going off to fight is all." That and he didn't know how much time Jirin had left on the mortal plain.

"Again, you will be fine." Jirin said as he finished with the food. He then went off to the small workshop in the back, where he did his more finely detailed work.

"Now, I will give you this." Jirin said as he opened a secret wall panel near the floor to reveal a small chest.

"What is it?" Joram asked, more curious than he had been in a long time. He had not known of the panel before this.

"This, my son, is the armour I wore when I was younger." He said as he took out some shimmering cloth. No, it wasn't cloth, it was elven chain mail. Joram's jaw dropped to his chest. He had never actually seen elven chain mail before. It was so very fine that most people _would_ mistake it for a metallic cloth. It was beautiful.

"But, but… but…." Joram couldn't seem to make it past that. His brain was stuck on the shiny thing in front of him.

"I have wanted to give it to you for some time. I was going to wait until you left on your own, but it can't be helped now." Jirin said as he looked fondly at his adoptive son. "Here, try it on." He said as he approached Joram.

Joram, too stunned to say much of anything, let alone protest, tried it on.

"As I thought, we are near enough the same in build." That was saying a lot for the elf, for Joram was not a small person. True that they were the same height (close to six feet), and near the same weight…. But Joram was somewhat broader in the shoulder and chest than Jirin.

The elven chain fit perfectly.

"You must have been larger in your younger days." Joram said as he slipped it off again.

"Just a little." Jirin said with a grin. "Now, don't let _that_ out of your sight either. This is thin enough that you shouldn't have any problems with putting your bracers on over top of it." Joram said as he took the bracers off the workbench where they were getting their finishing touches. "Now," Jirin said as he was again reaching into the chest, "Here is a keepsake from your mother. She gave it to me before she passed on." He said somewhat sadly at the memory as he gave Joram, what looked like, an armband. There was some dark jewel that he could not identify set into the middle of the band amongst the stars that were the prominent design.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Joram said, again losing all train of thought at the sight of something pretty.

"It is. It was also made to enable the wearer of the band to see as though they were an elf, though better." He said with a depreciating grin.

"No way!" Joram exclaimed. He was going to have fun with this….

"Just, don't do anything rash with it." Jirin said, reading his son perfectly. Joram gave an embarrassed grin as his response.

"Now, you will have to do with this katana until I can finish the one I have been making for you." Jirin said as he stood up and took a katana and its companion wakasashi off yet another work bench. It wasn't anything fancy, just a well-made blade.

"These will do nicely." Joram said as he took them from his father. They were very well balanced weapons, and made for his use. He knew, he made them.

"I just hope that your craftsmanship is good enough to get you back home to get some proper weapons." Jirin jibed. The comment was unnecessary though, because Joram was already an accomplished weapon smith. He was so proud of that boy at that moment that he just about showed it on his face.

"We still have some time before we are taken off. Let's go and play a game of shoji." Joram said to dispel the uneasy quietness that had befallen.

"Good thought." Jirin said as he took the lead out of the workshop, and over to the living area. "You still need another century or two to beat me in shoji though." Jirin wasn't bragging.

Unfortunately, the next day and a half were passed by telling people that they could not possibly make a proper sword, or spear, or dagger, or whatever in such a short period of time. A lot of people grumbled over the fact, but couldn't do anything about it. So, those few that were particularly insistent left in a rather vocal manner. Joram was set to studying when he wasn't out saying good-bye to some of his friends that were too old to go off to war, or too young to fight. There was also Monica. They had been friends since his youth, and she was not happy about his going off when she couldn't go with him.

"…sorry, but they said only the men!" Joram argued. He hated arguing with Monica.

"Then is it only men who can fight?!" Monica shot back in a tone that told him he would die if he said yes'. She could fight fairly well herself.

"No, no, no…. Gah! You don't have to worry I'll be back. Jirin taught me well enough to make sure of that." Joram tried to explain, but a rock in the stone wall across the way would have heard just as well as she did him at that time. It was not the right thing to say apparently, for Monica stormed off fuming before he finished.

"What was I supposed to say?!" Jirin asked himself in exasperation, looking to the heavens for some sort of answer.

"You were supposed to be understanding and agree with her." Someone said from behind him, causing him to jump quite high.

"What do you know about women Cam?" Joram demanded as he rounded on his best friend.

"Just what all the men of the village say after a few years of being married." Cam teased.

"We aren't married!" Joram said heatedly. What was Cam thinking? He was only seventeen. How could he think of getting married anytime soon? Was he mad? "Anyway, don't you have to finish getting ready? The messenger will be here at any time."

"Don't you have any faith in me? I just finished before I came to look for you." Cam said, looking at his friend with a mix of pity and smugness on his face. It was an odd combination.

"What's that look about?" Joram asked sourly.

"Oh, my pa gave me my name day gift early is all…." He bragged.

"You mean that bow he was working on?" Joram asked, he too getting excited.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't believe how nice it feels in your hands!" Cam said with a faraway look in his eye.

"I worry about you sometimes…." Joram said, giving Cam a perturbed look. "I'm glad you like the bow though."

"Sorry. What?" Cam asked coming back to reality.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Joram quickly covered up. "I won't be getting my gift for another month or two, or whenever we get back...." He said, somewhat disappointed. He and Cam had been born on the same day, and always Jirin had forgotten about his name day and given him a late gift. It didn't really bother him unless Cam said something. Like right now.

"Ah, sorry bout that." Cam said somewhat embarrassed. "I was just happy to finally get a new bow."

"Yeah, no problem. I don't know why I care anymore anyway. It happens every year after all." Joram said.

"Well, let's forget about it for now." Cam said.

"Sounds good."

"Besides, we have a larger problem on our hands." Cam continued.

"What's that?" Joram asked, slightly puzzled.

"The messenger is back." Cam replied in a more serious tone.

"That would do it." Joram said as he surveyed the scene before him.

There were many angry parents milling about in the village green. The messenger was there too, though with about a dozen well equipped soldiers. Guess they don't want much trouble. Those soldiers must be broiling in their full plate mail. It's got to be hard being a soldier. He hoped he didn't have to wear full plate like that….

Mr. Brown, in particular, wanted to be heard. The messenger, a fellow by the name of Timothy, was not listening. Mr. Brown then tried to grab Timothy by the coat sleeves, but one of the guards had a different idea. He slammed Mr. Brown up the side of his head with his spear shaft. Mr. Brown went down in a boneless heap.

"Now, if you could all gather together. I will start calling out the names on the register, and I expect the men to step forward." Timothy said in a self-important tone of voice. Unfortunately for him, most everyone was yelling at the same time due to Mr. Brown's treatment. Though a few villagers were smiling smugly. Most of them had wanted to do that themselves. Mr. Brown was a loud mouth.

I still don't like that Timothy guy. He is just way too smug. Joram thought to himself as he sat in camp that night. Though it was amusing to watch him cower for warmth near one of the campfires. He must have soiled himself half a dozen times during that last battle. Though, truth be told, he might have as well had he not been trained at all…. Who would have thought that Lord Yandegal would have teamed up with a necromancer? All those undead everywhere. It just wasn't right. Bringing your own troops back from the dead to fuel your armies is just plain wrong! And it smells!! The major problem, though, was that the dead didn't produce any heat. It made it hard to spot them at night….

So, by later that same day we were en route. I said good-bye to my father and gathered all of the things he had prepared for me. It wasn't a particularly emotional good-bye, though we both knew what the other was thinking. We wouldn't meet again in this life.

I don't know how I knew this, but I knew anyway. I was kind of sad. I guess I had known for a while that Jirin wouldn't be around for as long as I would like. I guess that's life.

Lord Dimitri's castle was five days west of the village. Cam was excited to see the world outside of the village. I had heard the stories from Jirin, and I wasn't as enthusiastic as Cam. The rest of the world was a dangerous place. I just had to keep telling myself that because it wasn't looking particularly dangerous at the moment.

On their second day out, Timothy informed them that they would be stopping by the next village over to pick up some other "recruits". Joram wondered to himself if there would be any more of a fuss over all of this. Ah, well. Such is the life of a peasant.

Sure enough, there was an even larger commotion in this town. It seems that these people in particular were very disgruntled with the rule of the current Lord. Guess that's why we were picked up first. Joram thought too himself as he watched the angered people gathering together.

"Everyone, keep together. This might get ugly." The lead soldier said. He was a nice enough fellow out of uniform, but very strict (and almost brutal) when on duty. The captain let his hand rest on his sword.

The mayor of this village stepped forward to speak.

"We have decided that only those who volunteered to join Lord Dimitri's militia will go with you." He said, somewhat puffed up.

"Who says you have a choice?" Timothy sneered.

The mayor was dumbfounded.

"If the good people of this village do not wish to co-operate, we will just have to add an additional war tax. Say about twenty five percent. That should compensate appropriately for the loss of men from this village." Timothy said in that superior tone of his.

"That is robbery!" The mayor spluttered, his face going red.

"Well, we could just remove all patrols from the region to compensate for the loss of men instead." Timothy mused, still in that superior, nasal voice of his.

This time the mayor went white.

"You wouldn't...." He practically whispered.

Timothy just stood there smiling that greasy smile of his. The mayor turned to, what looked like, his councillors, and gave them a pleading look. They looked just as worried.

"Give us an hour to discuss this." The mayor asked, almost pleaded.

"You have an half hour. We do have a schedule to keep." Timothy replied, now sounding quite bored with it all.

The mayor and councillors gathered up several people and headed for what passed for the town hall (it was really the inn).

"Captain, lets relax for a bit shall we?" Timothy said as he sat back against the apple tree on the village green. The Captain, Kenneth by name, just stood there. Timothy just shrugged.

"Do you think that there will be fighting?" Cam asked, somewhat nervous and excited at the same time.

"Let's hope not. We are severely out numbered. We may be better equipped, but they still have ten to one odds in their favour." Joram said as he examined the crowds gathered around them all. "Besides, don't you have some family out here?"

"Yeah, but they are all from the side of the family we don't like to talk about." Cam replied with a grimace.

"Really? What did they do?" Joram asked, now curious.

"You really don't want to know the answer to that question." Cam said in all seriousness and some.... Disgust?

Joram took the cue to let the subject drop. Instead he focused on the situation at hand. What was that arrogant little twerp, Tim, going to do? He didn't want to have to fight people who were supposed to be on the same side as him. That would just be helping the enemy. How stupid can some people be?

"I'm gonna' go talk to talk to Captain Kenneth to see what might happen." Joram said as he started to head over to the rough looking Captain. Cam started to say something, but let it drop as he followed Joram.

The Captain was speaking with a couple of the lower ranking officers, apparently giving them instructions in case something should go wrong. Joram stopped a short ways away to listen.

"So, if they have archers, head for cover as fast as possible. There, there, and there." He said pointing to a few of the buildings that were closer than the others. "Take a hostage for extra cover if you need to. They won't want to shoot their friends now would they?" He asked in a dry tone of voice. The other three laughed at this, but Kenneth did not. He was still perfectly serious. The other three cleared their throats and once again started to listen to what the Captain had to say.

"Though, if anyone is killed needlessly, I will have that persons' head." He finished with an ominous glare at all three of the officers in front of him. "No accidents'." He finished as he turned to regard the two youths now in front of him.

"What do you need?" He practically growled.

"We were just wondering what we should do if there is trouble." Joram asked innocently.

"You heard didn't ya'? Take cover in the buildings." He started to turn away at that, and then said: "Make sure the other kids know what to do as well. We don't want too many people dieing today." With that said he turned the rest of the way around and headed off to speak with Timothy before the Mayor and the councillors got back.

"Wow. He's crustier than a week old scab." Cam said as he watched the large man leave.

"Thanks for that visual." Joram said as he continued to watch the Captain. "I don't know if he is a reformed murderer, or just very callous. Either way, I'm glad he's on our side." Joram commented absently.

"Like you said, let's just hope that nothing happens." Cam said, now starting to realize how bad this situation really could get. "I'm gonna' go and string my bow. Come on over when you're done staring at Mr. Tall, dark and crusty." Cam said as he headed off to chat with the other boys from X'atur, that being the name of their village. So for the next ten minutes or so, Joram listened to Timothy complain about this or about that. It was weird, but Joram could swear that he shouldn't be able to hear them from that distance, especially since they were talking at a normal level. Ah, well. Some things change.

Just then the mayor came out of the Inn with his entourage. They looked somewhat more composed than when they had first gone in. _This could be good_. Joram thought to himself. _It doesn't look like they are going to do anything stupid_. Joram was proved wrong.

"We have decided that we can do without the patrols from Lord Dimitri. With the men that are staying, we can handle it well enough." The mayor said in a, once again, self-assured tone of voice.

"Is that so?" Timothy mused. "Then that will be fine. The tax, be it paid in food or coin, is now twenty percent. A regiment will be sent by at harvest to pick up the extra load." Timothy said with a superior smile to himself. "Just have everything ready by then." Turning to the Captain he said, "Round everyone up, we're heading out."

"You heard the man! Move it you lot of pig swallow!" Kenneth bellowed and he started to round everyone up.

"Cam, we are going to have to watch out. Timothy is stupid enough to get us all killed. We'll have to stick together if there is ever a fight." Joram said as he took Cam aside to speak with him.

"No kidding. Half of these people can't even hold a bow properly." Cam replied in disgust. "Maybe we can find a few who know what they are doing. That could increase our odds of survival."

"That's a good idea. Find as many as you can who can fire a bow without hitting the person next to them. I'll see if I can find any descent swordsmen. We then can see if there are any who would be willing to stick together." Joram finished with a grin.

"Yeah. Stick with us if you want to live'." Cam said with a grin. "I'm sure they'll come 'a' flock'n." At that, Cam did burst out in laughter.

"Yeah, just like that." Joram said, laughing along with his friend. "Start with the guys from home first. You know them better than I do. They also like you better." Joram said, not seeming at all perturbed at the thought of people not liking him.

"Yeah, I'll do that. I don't think that they actually _all_ hate you. They're just jealous that they can't use a sword like you can. That and you beat most of them in front of their girlfriends." He finished with a snicker. "Come to think of it, that is a rather good reason for them to hate you." Cam said, now looking quite serious. Almost. Then he started to snicker again at the memory of how Joram had cleaned house the day those other kids wanted to show off by picking on the loner child Joram. Cam was still fond of the part when the five would be bullies ran home crying like three year olds after they had been… well… spanked by Joram. Joram wasn't well liked by the more popular kids after that. Nobody likes to be humiliated like that, especially in front of their girlfriends. That had been five years ago now.

"Yeah, well, just don't bring any of that up when speaking to those guys. We _want_ to get people together so we won't be slaughtered should anything happen." Joram said, now somewhat tired looking.

"Don't worry, you can count on me." Cam said as he took his leave.

_I wish he wouldn't say that. Nothing good ever happens when he says that._ Joram thought back to when he and Cam had tried pulling off many a prank on the other villagers when Cam would say that same very same thing when the plans were laid out. Cam would always try and make the plan more elaborate by adding his own little something' to it. As Joram stood there reminiscing, he absentmindedly started to rub his bottom with the palm of his hand. That was where he would always get switched with that cursed willow switch that the goodwife of the village preferred to use in her punishments.

Coming back to reality with a start, Joram realized that most of the troupe had already gathered together. The new recruits' from Anthus (that was the name of this village) were standing in a group a little ways away from the rest of the main body of soldiers. _Guess I was out of it for a while._ Joram thought to himself as he looked around for Cam. He found him a few moments later standing with a few of the other guys from X'atur. They all had unstrung bows in their hands. _Good,_ Joram thought to himself, _maybe he has manager to convince a few people._ So with that thought Joram headed over to his friend. About the same time, the Captain called an order to head out.

"So Cam, do you think it will rain tonight." Joram asked as he joined the small group.

"I think so." Cam replied as he looked up to the sky as it was slowly pulling a blanket of clouds over itself. "It doesn't look good for tonight. We'll have to find a good shelter to avoid catching out deaths in that storm that's coming." Cam said as he pointed to the horizon. There was a dark smudge, with a couple of bumps, near the tree line. _Guess those might be thunderheads coming_. Joram thought to himself as he watched the bumps' get larger.

"Anyway, I was talking with Norm, Terry and Blake here, and they think it a good idea that we should all stick together." Cam said as they all headed out of Anthus. The road wasn't' particularly wide (only two wagons could go abreast here), so the troupe seemed like a winding snake slowly making its way along the road. The guys from Anthus were staying at the rear. Most of them seemed somewhat angry with the whole situation. The Captain had apparently ordered some of his men to take up the rear. It was either to make sure that no roaming monsters caught them by surprise, or to make sure that none of the new recruits ran off.

The rest of the day passed with nothing special going on. He and Cam talked with several people the rest of that day to see if they wanted to organize a small division for mutual protection in case of a fight. They had mixed reactions. Some downright mocked them, saying that they could take care of themselves in a fight. Others seemed confident that the soldier accompanying them would be able to handle anything coming their way. A few others seemed to think it a good idea though. So, by the time they made camp at the end of the second day they had several more people lined up to be in their small division. Yan, Davin, and Kent could all use swords fairly well. Derek and Brom could use a bow, but not amazingly. So that was it at the end of _their_ first recruiting session. _Not bad_. Joram thought to himself as they made camp that night under a large pine tree. It was fairly warm considering it was still spring. The storm had not as yet broken, for that they were thankful. The clouds were so thick though that everyone, except Joram, was having a hard time seeing without torches.

_Now this is cool._ Joram thought to himself as he looked around at everyone. They were all glowing different shades of red, orange, yellow, and, in some places, white. The ground was anywhere from black to dark purple. The horses were very bright. _Just so long as I don't look directly at fires, I'll be fine._ He told himself. Fires were rather blinding. _I'll just have to get used to switching from my normal vision to this heat like vision._ This would definitely be useful.

"Say, boy!" Kenneth called out to him. "Come here."

Joram just about jumped out of his skin. He had been way too absorbed by his planning to have noticed the approach of Kenneth. So he got up and headed over.

"Do you know how to use those swords of yours?" Kenneth asked him as he led him a short ways away from the camp.

"Well enough." Joram replied with a shrug.

"That's good." Kenneth said. "And do you know how to lead people in battle?"

"I've never done so before." Joram said, wondering why all the questions all of the sudden.

"Well, you should be prepared to lead those boys if you are going to gather them around you like that." Kenneth said, now looking quite serious. "Because if you don't know what you are doing, I suggest that you not set yourself up their as leader."

"We were just getting together in case something happened…." Joram said, trying to think fast.

"Yes, Timothy is a problem. He is too stupid to see that nobody likes him. Too stupid to see that most would rather have his head on a pike. So he just keeps shooting off his mouth, not considering that he is making many enemies of people who are our allies." Kenneth said.

_Why is he telling me all this? Does he not realize he's only speaking with a peasant?_

"The look on your face tells me that you are wondering why I'm telling a peasant all of this." Kenneth observed with a grin, noting Joram's shocked expression. "The reason I'm telling you all this is because you have gathered many of your fellow villagers together in a way that will ensure your safety should any enemy attack us. That is good. That speaks of forethought. I need you to keep your fellow villagers together until we reach the castle." Kenneth explained. "There have been reports that the goblins in the region have been restless after the long winter. I don't think that there is much of a chance that they will attack, but you can never be too careful. Let me see that sword of yours." He said as he held out his hand. Joram obliged.

"This is very fine steel." He said as he examined the steel in the firelight, turning it over in his hands as he did so. "Very well balanced, though a design I have not seen in some decades."

"My father made it," Joram lied. "I think its elven in design."

"No. Not this. It's from a little traveled region. I didn't think to see another one of these in my day." He mused.

"You've seen this kind of sword before?" Joram asked in mock curiosity.

"Yes. Before I took up service under Lord Dimitri I was a mercenary down south. I ran into a warrior that had swords like yours. Very rare they are." He said, now looking directly at Joram.

"Is that so?" Joram asked, now getting nervous. "Well, I guess it's lucky that my father learned how to make these kinds of swords too."

"Yes, most fortunate. I just hope that you can use them half as well as that traveling warrior." Kenneth said as he re-sheathed the sword and handed it back to Joram. "Now get back to your small camp and get ready for a miserable night. It's going to pour tonight." With that said he went back to his place at the fire. Joram stood there for a little while mulling over what was said. He came out of his musings when the first heavy drops of rain landed on his head.

"Ah, crap!" Joram said as he ran back to his camp under the huge pine. "Cam, I'm really glad that you found this pine. We might actually stay mostly dry tonight." Joram said as he sat by the small fire.

So far only Davin and Blake were comfortable enough being in their own separate group, meaning Joram's group. Everyone else was still with the people they camped with the first night. The group from Anthus was as far away as they could get from the rest of the group while still being in the same camp. They were still sore about what Timothy had done to their village. Though there were a couple of them who seemed friendly enough if they were not in the same company as their fellow villagers. It wasn't long before Kenneth told everyone to get to sleep, or they wouldn't be too happy in the morning if he had to wake them up. He went on telling them what he would do to wake them up in more detail. Joram made a mental note not to sleep in.

The night passed without incident. Though, several people complained about the rain on many an occasion throughout the night. The morning brought a very dark and rainy day. Thankfully the rain wasn't too heavy. They might have had a revolt had Timothy insisted on traveling through the rain. As it was, the complaining was kept to a minimum due to Kenneth telling everyone "to shut their holes", or he would "give them a reason to complain". Nobody wanted to get Kenneth angry, so they kept quiet. The horses just kept on going without complaint. Kenneth pointed this out, and made it clear that they were being a perfect example for them.

"Not going to say anything. Nope. Not one thing." Cam said as he tried very hard not to say something that would certainly get him in trouble.

"That's good. You saw what he did to Davin, didn't you."

"Who would have thought that he would dump a bucket full of cold rainwater on him for sleeping-in just a few minutes?" Cam asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's pretty harsh." Joram said with a chuckle. _The look on his face _was _priceless though…._

"I'm sure glad we're up early to practice every morning." Cam said. Then with a wondering look on his face, "Who would have thought _I _would ever say that?"

"I was just thinking the same thing." Joram said with a look of wonder on _his_ face. "Anyway, I just hope that he doesn't get sick. That would put a damper on our practices in the evening."

"Yeah, heaven forbid." Cam said sarcastically.

Joram just kept on going, shaking his head. Cam was always trying to get out of extra work. He was just way too lazy for his own good.

As the morning progressed, Joram kept a sharp eye out for signs of trouble. There seemed to be a bright flashing one over the boys from Anthus. They were still keeping separate from the rest of the troop, staying towards the back. As Joram watched them, he noticed a darker smudge above the tree line from the way they had just come. A sense of dread came over him.

"Cam, do you see what I am seeing?" Joram said, pointing back the way they had come.

"I can't see anything." Cam said after a few moments of searching. "What do you see?"

"I see a whole lot of smoke." Joram said as he took off towards the front of the line.

It didn't take long to get to the front. After all, it was a rather small company. Ken was speaking with Timothy, not looking too happy about it.

"Ken, I really need to speak with you." Joram said, trying to keep the sense of urgency out of his voice.

Ken turned to regard him. Timothy looked quite put out about being interrupted, and looked as though he might object to the interruption in a rather rude manner. "I'll be right back." Ken told Timothy as he walked off with Joram. Timothy looked as though he had eaten a sour plum.

"What is it?" Ken asked once they were out of earshot of most people.

"I see lots of smoke coming from the way we came." Joram said, pointing in the direction of Anthus.

Ken squinted, trying to see what the younger man was seeing. "I can't see anything. Just looks like another storm is heading our way." Ken finally said.

"The wind is not blowing in our direction." Joram pointed out. At this Ken started to believe him.

"How can you see that from here?" Ken asked, now curious.

"I grew up with an elf remember?" Joram said. "He taught me well." He hoped that that load of dung of an excuse managed to convince him. He didn't want to reveal that he had a magical item that could let him see farther than anyone else.

"Yeah, sure." Ken said, obviously refusing not to buy that load. "So, what do you suggest we do, eh?"

"Why are you asking me?" Joram asked, now somewhat nervous.

"Well, you see the smoke, but what should we do about the fire?" Ken asked him, putting on the pressure.

"We can't just leave the people of Anthus not knowing if they are all right." Joram said, growing firmer in his determination.

"That would be quite a hike to get back there to be able to save anyone if it is an attack." Ken said, now giving an air of being thoughtful.

"It doesn't' matter!" Joram said heatedly. He didn't want the tragedy that was his past to happen to any other people. "I'll take my friends and head back to see if we can help."

"And what if I say; no'?" Ken asked.

"Then I would have to ignore you." Joram said, now gaining more courage.

"That is insubordination. You would be hanged once we reached our destination." Ken said, now just pointing out possibilities. "You sure you want to die young?"

"That, I can deal with. I cannot deal with the fact that I could have helped someone, but didn't." Joram said. Now looking back towards Anthus, he asked again, "Are you sure you can see nothing?"

Ken looked again, this time taking his time. A few moments later, he said, "Yeah, I can see it now." Then walked off towards Timothy.

Joram couldn't believe it. Ken had just walked off after finally seeing the smoke! What was the man thinking? Cam had come over once Ken had headed off.

"So, what did he say?" Cam asked nervously.

"He said he can see it." Joram said, still not believing that Ken had just walked off.

Ken was now speaking with Timothy. Timothy did not look happy at all about what he was talking about with Ken. It was quite evident, because he was turning several shades of scarlet. Finally they could hear Timothy yell, "… we are not going BACK!"

The relief that Joram felt at that moment was extraordinary. They were going to help. Screw Timothy and his egotistical arguments, they were going to help. Joram felt as though he was going to bounce away, he was so relieved of the heavy burden weighing on his heart. At that moment, Ken earned some extra points in the area of respect from Joram.

A few moments later, Ken was yelling at everyone to turn around and head back to Anthus. Many people started mumbling to each other about what the reason could be for the change in direction. The boys/ men from Anthus looked happy and scared at the same time. Why were they now turning around? What could this mean? So as the group started to head back the way they had come, several of the men from Anthus went and questioned Ken about the change in direction.

It seems, though, that Ken just told them to get back into line, for most of them left grumbling. Joram was glad that Ken didn't say too much, because they might just wind up running off without any thought to their safety.

"I'll go gather the guys so that we are together." Cam said, and then headed off the find the others. Norm and Yan had just headed over, so that made Cam's job a bit easier.

"Say, Joram, what's going on? We saw you speaking with Kenneth before he ordered the turn around. What did you say?" Yan asked.

"Keep it quiet, though they will notice soon enough." Joram said. Yan and Norm looked confused. "There is a lot of smoke rising from the direction of Anthus." He said, keeping his voice low. "I think that the orcs came a bit early this year."

"No way!" Norm said, looking shocked.

"That's harsh." Yan said, looking at the sky above the tree line. "Do you think anyone will be left? I mean, if we can see the smoke from here that must mean that a large section of their town is burning."

"That is true, but I only noticed the smoke a short while ago. It hasn't had time to build up so that it would be obvious." Joram said.

"True, but it'll take most of a day to get back there. Will we be able to do anything with the people we do have here? I mean, if there was enough of whatever attacked, won't they just be able to overrun us too?" Norm asked, looking somewhat afraid.

"We will have the element of surprise." Joram said, trying to appear confident. It seemed to work, for both Yan and Norm relaxed somewhat.

A little while later, Cam came back with the others in tow. They went over what they had practiced and planned. About an hour after they had turned around, one of the men from Anthus noticed the smoke. It got very noisy. Several of them headed over to speak/ yell at Timothy for not telling them of this, or telling them that they needed to go faster, or telling them that they would go on ahead.

Ken put a stop to their stupidity. He ordered five of his soldiers to stay with the group from Anthus, and got most of the group from X'atur to stay with them as well. Joram's group was ordered to stay with Ken and the rest of the group. As they travelled, Joram began to prepare his sword for the coming fight, using one of the techniques Jirin had taught him. He could use it thrice. He hoped it would be enough.

Ken later asked them if any of them were good at hunting or sneaking around. Naturally both Joram and Cam raised their hands, so did Blake and Brom. Blake and Brom were hunters back home, though Joram and Cam had sneaked around the village a lot with all the pranks that they continually played on the rest of the villagers. Ken told the four of them that he would need them to scout out the area, two by two, once they arrived near Anthus.

Both Joram and Cam were somewhat excited at that, but Blake went a little pale at the suggestion. He was somewhat comforted by the fact that he wasn't to go alone, but still, all the potential enemies in the area gave him a fright.

The pace was picked up to a jog for a mile, then a walk for a mile. This would allow them to cover more distance, and not have them be exhausted once they reached their destination. There were a few of the boys from both villages that had a hard time with the pace, but they didn't complain too much. They knew that they needed to get to their destination with all speed, or the villagers would have no hope of rescue. Nobody wanted to discuss the possibility that none of the villagers had survived. The fires could be seen as they ran.

So it was near sunset that they arrived in the environs of Anthus, the air heavy with smoke and the smell of another thunderstorm brewing. The fires had now burned low, so the light of the fires could no longer be seen. Soon after they arrived Ken sent out both Joram's team as well as Blake's team. Joram went north and Blake went south.

As both Cam and Joram walked, they spoke in whispers.

"Do you think we will find anyone?" Cam asked, looking none too hopeful.

"Let us hope." Joram replied.

It was now full dark outside, and his vision had shifted to the infrared spectrum. The trees were a darkness hiding the light of the burnt down houses, their coals still hot. After a short time, they spotted the attackers.

The orcs were jumping around in a type of dance around one cook fire. There were twelve in all. They were cooking something over the fire. It smelled like pork. He hoped it was pork.

They continued around the perimeter of Anthus, seeing more and more groups of the foul orcs. Soon they had just about made a complete circuit of the village when they happened upon, what looked like, their leader and his cronies. The orc chieftain was sitting on a large armchair he had gotten from someone's house. He was huge. He looked like he might be near seven feet tall. He also had a massive bastard sword leaning against his chair. To his right was his shaman. Joram could tell that it was his shaman because he was covered with feather decorations, teeth necklaces, and other bone jewellery. He was significantly smaller, closer to five and a half feet. There were also six warriors sitting indiscriminately around the fire. They must be his guard.

The chieftain was discussing something with the shaman.

"Cam, you stay hear. I need to hear what they are saying." Joram said. Before he could leave though, Cam caught his sleeve.

"You can understand what they are saying?"

"Yeah, Jirin taught me." Joram said impatiently. "Just stay here and be quiet." Joram said, sneaking a little closer to the fire. Joram didn't worry about Cam being alone; the orcs hadn't set up any sentries.

So he crept on his fingers and toes to get a better spot where he could listen in on the conversation, trying to keep to the shadows. He eventually got to a place where he could hear them.

"We go kill rest of them now." The shaman was arguing.

"No, we eat, we drink and rest. That way we enjoy killing more. The humans can stay in building and sweat in fear until then." The chief stated, brooking no room for argument in his tone. The look of cruelness in his face almost made Joram jump up and slay him on the spot. Though he knew that he needed to get back and let everyone know that there were survivors. "We kill them before sun come." He said, pointing to the village inn. There were a dozen orcs keeping an eye on the building closer up. They looked bored at having guard duty.

At that, Joram made his way slowly back to Cam. Cam was sitting there watching carefully, though it was obvious that he had lost track of Joram, for he was chewing his bottom lip, looking worried. He told Cam what he had heard, and they started back to camp, going a little faster this time. They now had a deadline. Get back there before sunrise.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Joram sat at the fire, continuing to remember what happened that nigh no that long ago. There were a lot less people present at his camp who had been there night they attacked the orcs who had slaughtered the residents of Anthus. Now he had a lot of troops that he didn't know as well as those others.

When they got back to their camp, the men from Anthus were on frayed nerves. Blake's group had gotten back about three quarters of an hour before. They had given a rather... lacking report. Joram stopped only once he had gotten to Ken.

"There are about one hundred and fifty orcs in camp that we counted, including the chieftain and his entourage." Joram reported. "There also appears to be some survivors at the inn. The chieftain plans on attacking before sunrise." Joram finished, now waiting for a response.

"How are their forces arrayed?" Ken asked Joram, handing him a stick as they crouched down to draw out the town on a cleared patch of dirt.

"Most of them are scattered about the town revelling in their victory." Joram said as he marked their points on the dirt map as best as he could remember. Cam had picked up a stick too, and added a few more points to the map.

"The chieftain, shaman and their guards are over here, near the inn." Cam said as he marked the map again.

"They will not be expecting an attack though." Joram said as he marked the map in a couple of other places where he thought several attacks might be the best placed.

"Good thinking." Ken said, but was interrupted by one of the men from Anthus by the name of Zac.

"How many people are left?" He demanded as he took Joram by the shoulder to turn him around.

Joram didn't like being manhandled. He levelled a steady glare at Zac. "I don't know. We were only able to see that one of every three houses was bunt to the ground," he said as he removed Zac's hand. "And we couldn't see inside the inn because we couldn't get close enough to it. Now, let us finish getting ready so we can go help them. We don't have a lot of time." Joram then turned back to Ken.

"As I was saying; those points would be good to attack at." Ken said while pointing at the several spots marked by Joram. "We will need a fair sized troop to get to the inn and take the survivors to safety. We will also need some people to cause a diversion. You boys from Anthus should do that." Ken said as he looked at Zac. "You know the area better that anyone else, and can lead them on a merry chase for a while. That will buy us needed time." Zac grumbled a bit at that, but agreed. He then went off to speak with his men.

"I hope he won't play hero and engage the enemy full on." Ken said to himself.

"Me too." Joram agreed. "So, who will be going where?" Joram asked, bringing to conversation back to the matter at hand.

"As I said, Zac and friends will lead them off here," Ken pointed to a spot on the southern most part of the map. "We will attack from here, on the north side of town. I'm not sure if they had waited for us to be out of town before attacking, or if they just had good timing. But either way, they will not be expecting an attack to come from the north."

"That is true." Joram agreed with him again. "It also helps that the inn is so close to the north side of town."

"We should be able to get the villagers out of there without too much of a problem. With all of the bowmen that we have, it should go smoothly." Ken said, then; "Go and get the rest of the men from your village and teach them the formations you and your friends have been practicing. That will also help a lot in battle." That was a as much a dismissal as Joram had ever seen. So he left to organize his friends.

As he got there, Blake finished telling the others what he had seen, with Brom filling in some inaccurate details of his own.

"I tell you, there must have been three hundred of them!" Brom was saying.

"And I tell you that there were only on hundred and fifty, if that!" Joram broke in, venting some of his rising anger. "What are you saying Brom? Can't you count?"

"I can count fine!" Brom shot back, now on the defensive.

"Then your eyes must be going!" Cam retorted. "Enough of gossiping like to women back home. We need to get organized."

"Kenneth told us to organize you all. Davin, Kent, you take the rest of the group and go over the formations with them." Joram said, pointing to a group of six of their fellow villagers. "Cam and I will take the others and go over it all with them. We have half an hour. Get to it!" With that, Joram and Cam took the other four villagers and started to drill them on formation.

The next half hour passed by too quickly. The new students of war still had many questions, and kept on mixing up the later formations they were taught. Joram decided to just keep them in a box formation. Ken then came around and told everyone that they were going to head out. Timothy didn't look at all pleased with the way things had been going, and had his hand on his rapier. If Joram wasn't mistaken, Timothy looked quite scared. Ah, well. Let him be scared. I'm not exactly free of fear myself.

So it was as they headed out to do battle. Timothy was told to stay with the professional soldiers until they reached town, and then was told to hide somewhere. Timothy looked outraged at the idea of hiding when a fight was on its way, but eventually agreed to it when Ken again pointed out that he didn't have any armour.

Not far from town, the group from Anthus split off and headed south east and their group headed north east. They were to wait until they group going south started a commotion before starting in. The wait seemed to take forever. Each of the bowmen had taken aim at a target and was waiting. Eventually a call rose from the various camps of the orcs, and the chase was on.

The chieftain stayed where he was while ordering a large portion of his troops to go and slaughter the humans that were attacking. Their departure was their cue to attack.

The first flight of arrows downed eleven of the orcs, and before they could react, ten more went down with arrows sticking out of them. By this time the chieftain had picked up his shield and sword. Between his shield and the chair he had been sitting in, be was able to avoid being hit by arrows. He called for an attack, and the remaining orcs obliged with great abandon. Another eight went down before the charged reached the group hiding in the trees.

The work of death was started in new and gory ways. The orcs pretty much flung themselves at their attackers. Two bowmen went down with spears in their torsos. Cam was smart enough to fall back as those with swords came to the front lines to stop the enemy charge.

Joram himself drew his katana and slew his first orc of the evening as his sword left its sheath. The rest of the bowmen scrambled to the rear of the lines and the soldiers in full plate mail started to hack at the orcs. Ken was easily identifiable because of the scarlet plume on his helm. Joram guessed that most people couldn't tell the colour of the feather in this light.

As the attackers made their way further into town and the orcs seemed to think better of fighting these heavily armoured, wild men. The chieftain ordered a retreat wile taking out one of the soldiers that tried to engage him. The stragglers were killed as the orcs made their way east in retreat. The group from Anthus had lead their portion of the orcs south and east, and later the two groups of orcs joined up, though they kept their retreat heading east.

After the last of the orcs had either been killed or ran off, the small troop rejoiced in their victory. In total, five people from X'atur, seven people from Anthus, and two of the professional soldiers had died in the fight. Another six people injured, and two more who might not make it through the night without medical treatment. After a body count was done, it was determined that a total of fifty-two orcs had been slain, among them two of the chieftain's personal guard. Not bad, Joram thought to himself as he tried not to think of the people he had known who had died that night. It was tough.

At some point before dawn it started to rain again. The people hiding in the inn finally responded to Ken yelling at them, trying to get them to open up. There was a sound of much heavy furniture being moved, and then the mayor opened the door hesitantly, not sure if he was doing the right thing. When he saw who it was, he cried out in anger.

"Had it not been for you taking our men, we would have been able to defend ourselves!" he yelled when he saw Timothy.

"What's done is done," Ken said. "You would not have had sufficient men in any case. Now let us in so we may tend to the wounded before they too die." With that, Ken just walked right up and shoved his way in, waving an arm so that everyone could follow him inside. A few people stayed outside to line up their dead, so when morning came they could quickly get a burial.

Inside the in there must have been two hundred people packed in. Only one fifth of the townspeople remained. They were in the common room, the kitchens, and in the rooms. There were mostly women, children and the older men. The others, they were told, had died getting them to safety. There were also many injured people up stairs. So that is where the injured were taken. He and Cam helped carry Blake up the stairs. He had been stabbed in the gut by an orc's spear. Joram didn't think he would last much longer without some healing.

"Cam, go downstairs and tell Ken that I will do what I can to patch these people up before I go to sleep."

"Yeah, no problem." Cam said.

"You get your rest too. We're going to need it when we chase down those orcs before they get to X'atur." He said to Cam just before he got to the door.

"I know." Was all he said as he left the room.

Joram just shook his head. It must have been harder on Cam because he knew the others much better than he did. Poor guy.

Joram then dismissed those thoughts and concentrated on the problem at hand. He was running low on chakra, and this stabilizing Blake and the fellow from Anthus was going to drain him to near empty. That didn't stop him. He first made his way over to the man from Anthus and knelt down beside him. The old lady that was now tending him just kept on washing his brow. His breathing was shallow. _The spear must have punctured a lung_, Joram thought to himself. This will be tough. So he found his center, where he could channel his chakra, and laid his hands over the wound. The old lady looked at him in askance, but said nothing. Then his hands started to glow blue. The old lady fainted. Joram sat there for what seemed like hours mending the man's body. Joram knew it only took a few minutes to do, but it still seemed like hours. When he was done, the man from Anthus, he didn't even know his name, was breathing easier. The wound had mostly closed, and now had a large scab and some new pink shin covering it. So he wrapped some bandages, torn up sheets, around him and made him more comfortable.

Sighing, Joram regretted not learning how to heal better. He then got up and put the old lady in a more comfortable position beside the bed. With that done, be made his way over to Blake. Blake's wound looked terrible. It smelled worse. Firming his resolve, Joram knelt down beside his pallet and again found his center. This time it took at least twice as long to mend. Joram lost consciousness when he ran out of chakra. He slept.

The last bit on night passed, and most of the morning before anyone woke Joram. He felt as though he had run the whole day previous with Cam on his back. He was tired. It just so happened that it was Cam that had come to wake him up with a bowl of porridge in hand.

"I guess you did your weird healing thing, huh?" Cam asked quietly as he sat next to his friend.

Joram looked around. The man from Anthus that he had healed was still sleeping. The old lady was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, but I couldn't heal them properly. I just didn't have enough energy left to do so." Joram said as he took the bowl from is friend.

"The old lady said you had done something weird last night." He laughed, "I convinced her that it must have been a dream. I mean, how can anyone make their hands glow?"

"I should have done it when she was asleep." Joram said as he ate hungrily. "Ah, well. What's done is done. Has Ken started preparations to head to X'atur yet?"

"That is part of the reason why I cam to wake you. He doesn't want to go anywhere for another day."

"But that will give them a head start! We can't let them attack our home. We spent too much time here as is. We need to go as soon as possible." Joram said angrily.

"Hey, that's what I told him. But he won't budge. He keeps on saying we need to rest and prepare in case the orcs come back."

"I'll go talk to him." Joram said as he wolfed down the rest of the porridge. Light! He was hungry!

When he got downstairs, he found that there were a lot of people (from X'atur) who wanted to leave as soon as possible. Now that Joram was downstairs, they took to him as their leader. The irony of the situation didn't escape him.

He reassured his fellow villagers that he would speak with Ken, and he left them to help with the graves. They had sustained few injuries, so he didn't feel bad telling them to go. Besides, it was better to have something to do to distract them from the very real problem at hand. The safety of their village.

Ken was sharpening his sword as Joram approached. When he spoke, he didn't look up.

"I know what you are going to say, but we need to rest at least until morning before we head out again." Scrape, scrape went his whetstone.

"I know your reasoning behind it," Joram said, "but I cannot wait. If you don't say you'll come with be by noon, I'll have to leave without you."

"I saw how you handled your sword last night, and it would be a pity to lose someone with your skills, but we won't be leaving until tomorrow morning." With that he finally looked Joram in the eye. "I don't know what you expect to do by yourself, but you won't do much good all alone."

"That doesn't matter. I must help those people who I grew up with, and my only remaining family." Joram said, and then he headed back upstairs to speak with Cam.

"So, what did he say?" Cam asked anxiously from beside Blake, who was looking (and smelling) much better this morning.

"We are to stay until tomorrow morning." Joram said shortly. "Though, for myself, I will be leaving shortly after noon."

"Then I will get ready too." Cam said, immediately getting up. "No, I need you to stay here with the others." Joram said as he picked up his things from beside the pallet. "I will see if I can get ahead of them and warn the village."

"I know you can run fast, but how do you expect to beat them there?" Cam asked, looking at his friend as though he had a fever.

"Trust me. This is the only chance they have." Joram said as he got up. "Make sure the others are ready to go at first light. I'm sure that they will be pretty mad with me, but they will have to deal with it. I'll tell them that I'm going out scouting. You can tell them the truth in a few hours when it's obvious that I won't be back."

"You really are crazy, you know that?" Cam said to him as a good-bye.

"Yeah, enough people tell you that, and you start to get that way." Joram replied on his way out.

Downstairs, the mayor was again arguing with Timothy. It seemed to be on the subject of their leaving in the morning. He disagreed quite vocally. Timothy was telling him that they had to go get help. At that point Ken broke in and said that they were going to help the people of X'atur it the morning, not going the other way. They both rounded on him, though he held his ground.

There were a few people from the fight last night still inside. Some of them came over and congratulated him for having killed so many orcs the night before. He kept his responses short and to the point because he needed to be out of there. There were just too many people here who he could imagine to be people from home. He didn't want more people to die.

So he stopped a couple of people and told them how to plant rows of sharpened stakes to make a perimeter around the inn. Once that was done, and he had several people out to do it, he left the inn. From the front door he looked around at the destruction wrought by the invading orcs. As he had seen last night, about one third of the houses had been burnt down. There were also corpses still lying around. The workers had taken as many of the villagers as they could find, and were burying them. Others were taking the dead orcs and dragging them to heaps where they would be burnt.

Shaking his head at both the scene before him and at the stench in his nostrils, he turned east and headed out. The morning was overcast, and somewhat chilly. His cloak had definitely seen better days, but he pulled it tight over his shoulder satchel and began to run.

He kept up the pace for an amazingly long time, longer that anyone else in his village could, and much faster. So by the time mid-day come and gone, and it was halfway between noon and sunset, he caught up the to the orcish horde. Unfortunately, it looked as though they had met up with another group of orcs along the way. They looked to number about three hundred now. That wasn't good. They took up the width of the road and were almost three hundred yards long.

_I'm just glad the trees in the region are old and tall_. Joram thought to himself. So he went off road and performed the necessary hand seals to mould his chakra so he may be able to jump great distances. With this done, he leapt into the tall tree beside him, and kept on jumping from tree to tree above the oblivious orcs heads. It may not be the most conventional way of traveling, but it sure beat trying to vie for space on the road with the orcs. Going along the forest floor would have taken much too long. So, the trees were a perfect alternative.

In just another hour, he had passed the horde and was again on the road running at his break neck speed. Not long after sunset he arrived in town. The villagers were all in their homes for the evening meal, unaware of the threat descending upon them.

Joram immediately made his way to his father's home. He knew that they would be able to get the villagers together in time to get up some sort of defence. For a brief moment he thought that this might all be useless. How would they ever defend against three hundred orcs? He shook off the moment of doubt and entered his fathers' home. He was glad that he had been wrong about the feeling he had had that he would never see his father in this life again. Gods, it was good to see his father again.

Jirin looked up at Joram, not looking the least bit surprised at his presence, and asked: "So, how was your trip?"

"Uh…" was all he could think of in response to the ridiculous question. "We ran into a snag." Joram explained.

"You get homesick?" Jirin asked with his usual grin.

"Ah, no. Orcs actually." He said.

Jirin just about fell over. "What?"

"Yeah, there are three hundred or so on the way." Joram said. "Have you baked any fresh bread for them?"

Now Jirin was completely serious. "How far behind are they?"

"I would say they should be near enough in about an hour and a half to attack." Joram replied. "Do you think that will be enough time to get everyone together?" he asked, now quite worried.

"I hope so." Jirin said as he sprang into motion. First he headed to his sleeping quarters, getting ready for battle. He changed into some black clothing that Joram had never seen before. He then retrieved his sword, a katana. He then went to his workshop and retrieved his bracers and what looked like shin guards. They were pointier at the top than regular shin guards. He then strapped a small… pouch… onto his thigh.

"What is that for?" Joram asked, wondering why he had never seen it before today.

"Just to carry some extra weapons is all." Jirin replied. "Now son, I wanted to wait until you got back before I gave you these, but tonight seems like a good night to do so." Jirin said as he picked up a katana and wakasashi off the detailing workbench. The handles were done completely in black; the scabbards were black as well. Though they weren't made of the usual leather. They were metal.

"What metal is this father?" Joram asked while inspecting the scabbard.

"That is an adamantite alloy. It is strong enough to shatter boulders. I figured that you would need something to fight with once you drop your swords. You do it often enough during practice." Jirin jibed.

"Gee, thanks." Joram said, sarcasm dripping. He then drew forth the katana, and was again surprised at what he saw.

"That is a special alloy of my own making. It combines both adamantite and mithryl, along with some other stuff. The different metals give it a nice ripple effect, and make it very strong." Jirin explained as he pointed out the unusual pattern in the metal. "It is also designed to change between a silvery blade and jet black if you touch it with a small amount of chakra."

"Wow. That is amazing." Joram said, awe etched on his face.

"Yes, but that is only one small thing it can do. It also acts like a lens; meaning that it will amplify the strength and duration of your jutsu. These swords are one of a kind. You must never let anyone take them from you." Jirin finished in a serious kind of tone.

"Never." Joram said, still in awe of the mighty weapons he was holding.

"Happy birthday son." Jirin whispered as he led his son out of the shop.

That was the last time we were able to speak thus. It wasn't long after that that things changed beyond my wildest dreams.

It was good that he had volunteered for guard duty this late in the night; it gave him time to reminisce of times past. He couldn't see how it would hurt, seeing that there were wards set up around camp to detect the presence of undead. Not that he really needed the wards these days….

After he left his house with his father, and had put away his old swords into his magical shoulder satchel, he put the new swords in their place at his left hip. They already felt as though they belonged there.

They made their way quickly to the mayor's house. It seemed as though it was… tradition that mayors of these small towns be the owner of the inn…. Ah, well, such is the ways of the country folk, his people, he guessed. The mayor came to the front of the inn when he heard them enter. Well, he heard Joram, but not Jirin. That man could walk on layers of broken glass with hard soled boots and manage not to be heard. It was kind of creepy.

"What can I do for you this late Jirin?" Len asked, somewhat curious as to why he was dressed all in black, and looked ready for a fight. Then he looked at Joram and a look of confusion passed across his round face.

"Joram came ahead of an army of orcs to warn us of the danger." Jirin said simply. The mayor laughed a bit at the perceived joke.

"So does that mean that the rest of the boys'll be back soon too?" He asked.

"Well, most of them." Joram said, a lump forming in his throat. "We don't have time to discuss it at length right now, because we need to get the villagers together quickly. Father was not joking about the orcs. There are about three hundred of them heading this way, and they'll be here in about an hour."

At this the mayor looked at Jirin, hoping that this was just a joke gone a little too far. Jirin just shook his head. The mayor then became somewhat flustered. "What are we going to do?"

"Go get your wife and daughters. We'll go over the plan once you come back." Jirin said, giving Len a gentle shove to get him going. "Bring what weapons you have as well." With that Len disappeared into the kitchens where he had been eating with his family. About ten minutes later he, his wife, and two daughters came into the common room of the inn.

"Len says that there is trouble?" Sarah said and asked at the same time. She was putting on a cloak while trying to hold a bow and quiver. It looked awkward.

"Yes," Jirin replied. "We need to gather the villagers here as soon as possible. There is an army of orcs on the way, and we need to get organized." Both girls, Monica and Julia, gasped at this. "I need each of you to go from house to house alerting each family of the threat. Tell them to bring what weapons they have, as well as their cloaks and meet here. We need to hurry. Go, now." Jirin said as he ushered the family towards the door. "I will scout the boundaries of the village to make sure no scouts see our preparations. Joram, stay here." Jirin said as he left with the mayor and his family.

The time seemed to pass like cold honey dripping. Slowly people started to arrive. It was getting chilly outside, so Joram set a small fire in each of the two fireplaces. He kept on telling those who had gathered to wait until the mayor and Jirin returned before the explanation for what was happening would be given.

The inn wasn't all that large, so as a result, space was getting to be scarce. After what seemed like hours, but was only half an hour, the mayor returned, then a few minutes later, his daughters, then his wife. With that, Joram started to explain what had happed, not giving too many details about the battle, or that some of their sons wouldn't be coming home. It took all of ten minutes to explain, including the interruptions from people wanting to get more information about their sons.

By the time he was wrapping up, Jirin came back into the inn. It seems that all of the people, who were going to come, came. Only three quarters of the entire village. That was sad.

"OK everybody, I need you to listen up." Jirin said as he made his way to the front. "I'll need anyone who can shoot a bow, and not hit the person next to them, to come to the front now." Jirin told them. He had an amazing way of projecting his voice so that everyone around could hear. Most of the fathers came forward, as well as some of the wives and daughters. Some of the younger men, too small to have been chosen to go to war, also stepped forward.

"Now, any of those who have stepped forward who don't want to die protecting the rest of your families, step back." At this, many more murmurs arose. There were a total of three people, of the thirty two who had stepped forward, who stepped back again. One was a father, and the other two were young girls, no more than thirteen.

"Thank you for your bravery." Jirin said in a tone that inspired those present to greater courage. "Now, all of the rest of you will follow my son south to the meadow near the river. He will protect you all in case any orcs make their way around." Jirin said, getting a disbelieving glare from Joram. Joram went in close so no one could hear.

"What are you saying?! Our chances are better if I am there too." Joram could barely keep his voice low.

"I need someone who can fight in case the orcs break through and keep on going." Jirin said in response to Joram's argument. "What good will their-" he motioned to the group up front, "sacrifice do if there is nobody to defend the others?" He finished.

There was nothing he could say to that. "Well, at least leave two bowmen behind. That would be a great help to us." Joram asked, now resigned to his fate of guard duty.

"That, my son, I can do." Jirin said warmly. "Monica, Julia! You will go with the rest of the group and make sure nothing happens to them." Jirin said as he again moved to the front of the gathering. Both made as though they would argue, but Jirin gave them a stern look. They quieted down nicely after that. He wished he could do that….

After that, he organized the soon-to-be-fighters into three groups, and the rest he put Joram in charge of. Jirin soon led his groups out of the inn, and Joram was left with the others. So he had the mayor's daughters, Monica and Julia, quickly gather a few blankets before they too headed off.

The going was somewhat slow due to the fact his group had all the old people and children in it. Nevertheless, they made good progress. Fear, he guessed, was a powerful motivation. A child would start to cry every now and then, just to have its mother shush, and coo until they stopped crying. Most of the mothers looked as though they wanted to cry too. Once they reached the woods, Joram had Monica and Julia lead the way, for he wanted to take up the rear in case some orcs managed to get through.

After about half an hour, they came to the meadow Jirin had told them to go to. The area was about twenty yards long by twenty five yards across. The river could be seen on the far side of the meadow, sparkling darkly in the night.

Joram then directed his fellow villagers to crouch down among the trees near the river so that they would not be as easily spotted. With that task done he then motioned for Monica and Julia to head over to the far side of the meadow with him. Once there, he instructed them to see if there were anymore arrows to be had from the people now in hiding, then to climb a tree on either end of the lagoon near the river. That way they would be able to spot any enemies who could approach. Both nodded, but only one headed away right away.

"Joram, how do you think the others are doing?" Monica asked, worry evident on her beautiful face.

"I'm sure they're giving those orcs a good run for their money." Joram said, trying to sound cheery.

"I don't buy it." Monica stated. "They're going to die, aren't they?" Monica asked, now trying to put on a brave face too, though failing miserably. Joram's heart felt as though it might soon be torn out of his chest if he had to keep thinking of more people he knew dieing. Especially his father, and Monica.

"They should be fine." He lied. "My father is with them, remember? He is the one who taught me to fight. Those orcs won't know what hit them." As though it were timed, a large explosion rang out. The night sky was briefly illuminated by the blast. He could swear that he saw a tiny figure fly through the air in the distance…. _Must be seeing things because of the sudden light_. Joram thought to himself.

Monica had jumped very high when she heard the explosion, and was now clinging to him. He stayed still for another few seconds enjoying the embrace, and then slowly removed her from off his chest. "Now, go and get some more arrows and get into your tree. I'll go out and scout the region."

"Don't be gone long." Was all she said as she turned to leave. Joram could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes as she moved off. _That's not right_, Joram thought to himself. _Why would she be crying?_ Then it occurred to him that his lie had not worked, and she knew that he was heading off to the village to check on things, and most likely wouldn't return. He sighed heavily, and then turned to head off.

Monica stopped a short ways away and watched her very best friend, perhaps the man she would marry one day, melt away into the shadows of the forest. Her tears flowed silently and freely down her cheeks as she went to do what Joram had asked of her. She hoped that it wouldn't be the last thing he ever asked of her.

Joram made his way back to the village as quickly and as silently as he could, which meant he made almost no noise that anyone could hear more that five feet away. The return trip only took him five minutes to make, seeing as how he could now run and not worry about leaving anyone behind. What he saw when he got there almost took his breath away.

Several of the houses at the eastern edge of town were on five, though not as yet wholly consumed by the greedy fire. Where once the road had been smooth, there was now a large crater being filled in with orcs who didn't have time or brains enough to go around. What he could see of the defenders gave him heart. They were on the roofs of the next few houses in from the ones burning, and they were firing their hearts out. Already it looked as though half of the orcish army had perished that night. He could see his father right in the middle of the horde, working the work of death with beautiful efficiency.

As he watched though, a score or so of orcs made their way around one of the houses and headed for a few of the defenders who were on the ground, desperately firing at the slowly advancing horde. He wouldn't get there in time to intercept them all, but he was gone in a flash anyway, performing several hand seals to ready himself for battle as he ran. Before the joyously murderous orcs could comprehend what had happened, Joram was in their midst as they started to attack the villagers.

One of the villagers went down with a spear in the gut, but all turned to his impromptu war cry. The first orc he had felled didn't even know what had hit him. That went for the second one as well. The next few tried to raise battered and feeble shields to defend against the now glowing sword. It didn't help more than paper would have, and they fell before his slashing swords.

One tried to get him from behind, but Joram had anticipated the attack, so he rolled to the left, slashing one orc across the backs of his knees on the way. At the end of the long roll, Joram leapt into the air amazingly high. To the orcs that had been ready to skewer him on the ground, it looked as though he had just vanished in the flickering firelight given by the houses. One thought to look up, but that only served to give him knowledge of his imminent death, for Joram was descending quickly, katana set. Needless to say, the orc was almost bisected by the stroke.

The other orcs just stared dumbly at their unfortunate friend for what seemed minutes. The spell was broken when Joram was again up on his feet, spinning a dance of death of his own. Several of the orcs managed to give him a cut here, a club there, but nothing life threatening. Soon the orcs were dead, and he was again running into another fight.

The remaining people he had just saved shook themselves as though waking up and again started to fire arrow after arrow into their aggressors. They scored many more hits before they were forced to move back by another group of orcs that had broken off from the main group.

Joram had then engaged the orcs that were between his father and him. There weren't many, for his father was a terrifying sight to behold, and the orcs wanted nothing to do with the machine of death in their midst. There were many that now started to run off, terrified. Joram paid them no heed because he had his own orcs to deal with at that time.

One, for instance, was making itself known by shoving its crude spear at his chest. He had no time to dodge properly, and took the spear full in the left side. The tip didn't penetrate the fine elven mail, but the impact broke both one of his ribs, and the spear. Shouting from the intense pain, he spun and cut the offending orc down while it still stared dumbly at its broken spear.

_Not good. Sooo not good._ Joram thought to himself as he yet again jumped, giving himself time to sheath his wakasashi before attacking with his right arm only. There was another flash of firelight off to his right. Fortunately it was lacking the blast from the first explosion; otherwise he would have indeed been in a bad spot.

Each breath, each swing of the sword brought new pain. His chest was on fire, and there didn't seem to be an end of the attacking orcs. As his reactions slowed, more orcs were able to get in and strike him. Soon he was uselessly swinging his sword around, trying to get some room. It didn't help. One orc came in from the side and shoved a spear into his right thigh. Joram's leg buckled, and as he went over another orc came up from behind and clubbed him upside the head. Joram didn't even feel it. All just went black as he fell over.

Jirin fought with all the considerable energy he had. The orcs were many, but he was no novice to battle, the swath of dead orcs behind him attested to that.

As he danced the dance of death, Jirin kept half an eye out for the villagers still on the roofs. He hoped that they would be able to kill many of the orcs before they too went down. It was sad really. These people had become his friends over the past several decades he had resided there. Some of them he had known since they were born, others were still just as distant. For either case though, he would fight and kill however many enemies threatened his friends and home. He let loose another breath of fire, charring all who stood in front of him.

Then he saw something that put a cold dagger in his heart. There was Joram over to the left, fighting like a demon, completely surrounded by orcs. Then several bear down upon him, one, he could see, clubbing him on the back of the head. Then he went down.

With that Jirin went wild. Activating another one on his many jutsu, he summoned forth lightning from the tips of the fingers on his left hand, laying low all who were stuck by the powerful attack. He then sheathed his sword, jumped high into the air (about thirty feet or so) and rained down scores of small fireballs from his inversed cupped hands. Each fireball that struck exploded and killed several of the attacking or fleeing orcs. Jirin smiled a grim smile as he landed. Most of the orcs were now fleeing the devastation around them, heading east.

Before he could run to destroy the rest of the orcs he had to go see if his son still lived. With that though tying his inside to knots, he sped over to his son. The remaining villagers were chasing the fleeing orcs, shooting them down as they fled.

Jirin dropped to his knees as he got to his adopted son's side. He carefully checked for a pulse at the side of the neck. There. Very faint and erratic, but there. His breathing was also shallow. An orc had managed to get a spear under Joram's armpit and into a lung. He wasn't going to make it.

As Jirin sat there trying to calm his thoughts enough to think of something to do, one of the orcs he had taken for dead raised it's arm high behind Jirin and shoved it's rusty sword into his back. With a sound of glee, the orc died as Jirin's now unsheathed sword took off its head.

Gasping for air, the _dirty beast must have gotten my lung_, Jirin sat beside his son.

"I didn't think it would end like this my son." Jirin said quietly, making him cough up some blood. "I… don't see… how we can… both make it… out of this one…." Jirin began to cough again, this time ripping his wound even more, sending excruciating pain though his body.

The end near, Jirin sat up in a kneeling position. Ignoring the pain, he performed his final jutsu. "Fuuinjutsu…." He said, the last part not audible to the human ear. Fog arose all around, completely obscuring the area and the two warriors as they lay there dieing.

_I wonder what is keeping him,_ Monica asked herself as she waited in the tree. It had been twenty minutes or so since the last time she had seen flares of light come from the village. He had left over an hour ago now, and she was becoming increasingly worried and agitated. He had a very bad feeling.

So, due to this distraction, she failed to see the orcs enter their meadow until they were halfway across at full run. When she did see them, she just about fell out of her tree. With a whistle that sounded like one of the local birds, she started taking aim with her bow. With the return whistle, she let fly her first arrow of the evening. It was a good shot, taking the orc in the throat. She didn't pay it any attention though, for she was already letting fly another arrow, and another, and another.

The orcs were soon in a panic again, for death was raining down on them from the trees. Several bolted for the river, hoping to escape, but they were shot down as they ran. Soon though, there came, first murmurs, then cries of fright as the villagers saw the orcs coming at them. Several of the older men and women came out with either old swords, quarter staffs, or makeshift spears make on last desperate attempt to defend their families.

With a tangible enemy at hand, the orcs surged forward to the attack. The desperate defenders could not hold against the sheer fury of the orcs as they attacked, and as a result, fell back, leaving their dead and wounded.

_Where is he?! _Monica asked herself as she continued to fire at their aggressors. Then she saw a dark shape almost fly, it was going so fast, into the rear flank of the orcs, killing them with great speed and accuracy. She was so distracted by the sight that she was not aware of the orc climbing up her tree.

_Where am I?_ Joram asked himself as he came to. He felt as though he were in a dream, and it sure looked like it with all the fog swirling around the grey plain he found himself in. There were no trees, no grass, nothing. As he stood up, he wondered what he was standing on, for it was the same indistinct grey as the rest of the place he was in.

Standing there for what seemed like an hour, he decided to start walking. _Guess any direction is as good as another._ Joram thought to himself as he started to walk, still feeling like he might be asleep. There was no indication that he was actually going anywhere, save for the fact his legs were moving. After what seemed like hours of walking he noticed something in the distance. It was a darker smudge against the landscape of grey. Not caring what it might be, Joram picked up the pace.

Again, is seemed as though he had been running for hours before the smudge in the distance took any shape. Then, all of a sudden, the smudge blurred and grew impossibly fast until it was a large castle right in front of him, the gates standing forty feet directly in front of him. With a great deal of hesitancy, he finally got the nerve to know on the gates. So he reached up and grasped the large iron knocker, and knocked. The sound was very… muted. Almost as though it was heard from a great distance.

He, again, didn't know how much time had passed before the gates, and not just the smaller portal meant for a few people to go through, opened. There was nobody there. That creeped him out to no end. But, well, he didn't have much of anywhere else to go, so he went in.

The courtyard was large and spacious. The cobblestones were large and evenly set, not appearing to have had any wear or use. It seemed as though the whole place was new. Not letting it bother him, he continued on his way to the inner gated to the keep itself, not bothering to check any of the other buildings in what seemed to be a large town in here behind the great walls of the castle.

_Wait. There weren't any buildings in here when I first looked in from the gates._ Joram thought to himself, now somewhat confused. Again, he just shook it off, telling himself that that was just the nature of dreams. They just changed on you with no warning. _Stupid dreams._

When he arrived at the gates for the keep, he stopped dead. Not because there were enemies to be seen, or friends, or family, but because a beautiful woman came out. In height she only came up to his chin, had such black hair that it had a bluish sheen to it even in this indistinct light that came down near the middle of her back. Her hair at her temples was braided in a line all the way to the back of her head, then tied with a ribbon, of the same colour a her dress, at the nape of her neck.

She had large purplish eyes that drank him into their depths and spoke of untold wisdom. She was very pale of complexion, and was wearing a -_was it black?-_ dress of a design he had never seen before. The shoulders were lacy, ending with no sleeves beyond the triceps, and the bodice was cut low and square, though not showing much cleavage. It also had lace around the edges of the neckline. The torso came in tight below the bodice, and then flared out at the hips into a full, tri layered, skirt.

She was also wearing a necklace of many gems set in strands of silver, with one large one set in the middle. All of the gems were black and sparkly. He didn't know what kind of gems they were. All in all, though, she was stunning, not looking more that a year or two older than he. Though the look in her eyes spoke of wisdom far beyond her apparent years.

"Hello Joram Stormborn." She said as she approached him. "I have been waiting for you."

Like he hadn't heard that before in a dream. He decided to play along. "How long have you been waiting?" He asked, trying to act concerned.

"That is a question with quite a long answer." She said with a smile. "That is not important, for now you are here." She said as she held out his arm so he could take it. Once he did, she led them back into the castle.

There were many corridors, far too many for the size of the castle he had seen outside. It was not long though before he became lost and stopped trying to keep track of where they were going. Time was odd in this place, for it only seemed to have been a few minutes before they came to a large hall. With all the corridors and turns and more corridors they had taken, and he could remember them, it was far too short a time to have spent walking to get there. Again, he dismissed it due to the fact he was in a dream.

She then proceeded to lead him to the far end of said hall to a pair of padded leather armchairs. One of he chairs had a small table with a finely carved and silver inlayed box on it next to it.

"Please sit. We have much to discuss." She said, guiding him to the other chair. She then sat in the other one, carefully arranging her skirts so they wouldn't get too wrinkled as she sat. When she sat, Joram took his swords from their place at his him and sat down as well. He then leaned the swords upright against the left arm of his chair.

"What is it you want to talk with me about?" Joram asked, now somewhat intrigued with the situation.

"Well, for starters, you are about to die." She said calmly.

"How is that?" Joram asked, looking around for anyone else in the large and spacious hall. "I see no one else around."

"You are not here in your body Joram. You are here in spirit. Do you remember what you were doing before you came to this place?" She asked kindly.

"Yeah, I was working in the smithy and went to take a short nap under the apple tree in the back yard." Joram said as he smiled at the thought.

"No Joram. You were engaged in battle to defend your home and friends. Do you not remember?" She asked, leaning forward slightly to place a hand on his knee. As she spoke, he started to remember, her voice acting as a strange narration to the events as he remembered them. "You were fighting, and you took several hits. You became tired, though that was due to loss of blood. Soon you could not keep your sword moving fast enough to parry the attacks from the orcs, and you took many other wounds. Then all went black when one of them hit you from behind."

He felt very dizzy with all his memories flooding back to him. He felt a sudden sense of urgency as he remembered the villagers waiting for him back in the meadow. They were depending on him, and he was going to let them down by dieing.

"But…. " He started, not sure what to say to all this. "I can't die yet. My friends are waiting for me to return with news of what is happening. I can't die yet!" He finished emphatically, now sitting forward in his chair.

"I know you wish to help your friends, but you cannot. Already your body grows weak, on the verge of death. That is why I am here, to-" she cut off as he started to fade away. "What?!" she demanded as she stood up quickly.

Then the hall, the pretty lady, everything faded away to black.

Joram opened his eyes, blinking away the grainy feeling in his eyes. There was a flickering light, several actually, from what he could see from where he lay. There was also a lot of smoke in the air. Coughing, he tried to sit up. Tried, because there was something heavy on his chest keeping him down. Raising his head, he saw it was a body. Lifting his arms he shoved the body off, only to see that it was Jirin, his father.

Quickly he sat up, holding him in his arms. There was a mile on his face. He looked peaceful. Tears welled up, and Joram sat there holding his dead father. He then became aware of another person standing to his left. Joram looked up quickly, reaching for his wakasashi so he could defend himself. What he saw took his breath away. Time stood still.

"You?" Joram said/ asked, not believing his eyes. "Who are you?" It was the woman from his dream.

"I am Katreen. I am the goddess of Life and Death." She said with a smile. "Your father has interrupted us." She said, not looking too happy. It wasn't a pleasant thing to have a goddess frowning in your direction. "It seems that he has saved your life at the cost of his own by summoning me here to perform his last act on the mortal realm." She really didn't look happy.

"What do you mean? How could he summon you, a goddess?" Joram asked, not understanding any of this. Then something occurred to him. "I thought the gods had abandoned us mortals hundreds of years ago?" Joram said accusingly.

"That is another matter that does not concern you at this time. Suffice it to say that I have always been there both when you enter this mortal realm, and when you leave it. As for his summoning me, that is also beyond you right now." She said, ending with a frown. "Because of what he has done, you are now bound to me, and his soul, in turn, is bound to you." She said, taking something from behind her back. "You will now wear this." She said as she couched beside him, placing a diadem on his head. It looked like mithryl, and had a gem of the same type as her necklace set into the middle of the dip on forehead. It looked as though five pieces of mithryl had been woven into a braid, getting slightly thicker as it neared the front, to where it met the setting of the gem, where it pointed down, like a triangle coming out the bottom side of the circlet. It fit perfectly.

"What is this?" Joram asked as he touched the metal band around his head.

"It is symbolic of your being bound to me. It is yours, and cannot be taken by force, nor given or sold to anyone." She said as she then took Jirin's body by the shoulders and pulled him off Joram. He couldn't say anything, the grief was too much. Katreen then laid him down, crossing his arms across his chest so that his hands were on his shoulders. She then brushed the hair out of his face, and then brought her hand down over his eyes to close them. He looked as though he were sleeping after a long and productive day of work. Resting peacefully.

"You said that you still needed to help your friends earlier, did you not?" Katreen asked softly.

"How could I forget!" Joram exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He then noticed the oddness that was his surroundings. "What is this?" He asked, feebly pointing around at the village. Everything was frozen. The smoke stood still, the flames of the fires not moving. All seemed as though it were a painting. A really good and detailed painting.

"Ah. I took us out of time so that we could speak without interruption. Go now and help your friends." She said, handing him his katana. He took it with a nod of thanks, then looked east to where he had left his friends. "Thank you." Joram said, turning back to Katreen. But she was no longer there, the smoke and fires once again going about their natural course. His father was gone too.

With a shake of his head, Joram took off at a dead run, ignoring the burning buildings as he passed them. _At least some would remain_, he thought to himself as he ran through the woods. He managed to pass the survivors of the fight in the village without them noticing him go by, even though he was going at a dead run. Soon enough, though, he was able to hear the sounds of orcs yelling and screaming, as well as the voices of frightened people. He increased the speed at which he was running, now seeming to blur as he passed.

Soon he was in the meadow, running straight into the blood thirsty orcs. The first few, again, didn't know what hit them, only that they were suddenly on the ground, watching their bodies fall over.

Whoever, or whatever, it was who had come soon had most of the orcs focussed on him/her/itself. But wherever the orcs tried to engage this new enemy they were cut down.

Suddenly, she heard a boot scrape on the tree behind her. Looking back quickly, she just about fell out of her tree at the sight of an orc just about level with her, raising its rusted sword, ready to strike. She did the only thing that came to mind. She screamed as loud as she could.

His dance was abruptly disrupted by a woman's scream. _The was Monica_, Joram thought to himself, a dagger of ice piercing his heart. He looked over to where she would have been in her tree, and saw her swatting at an orc that had climbed her tree to get at her. At the sight of Monica in danger, he started to see the world in various shades of red. He felt a surge of strength come from deep within himself, boiling forth to destroy his enemies. As he swung his sword, blades of air slashed out in the direction he had swung in, cutting a clear swath to his destination. He ran.

In a fraction of the time it should have taken him to get there, he was there, jumping straight up into the air a good twenty feet. At the peak of the jump, Monica on his left, and the orc on the right, he swung his sword with all his considerable strength in a downward slash that not only clove the orc in twain, but shore the top half of the tree right off.

Monica had enough time to start to look over at the blur of motion to her right, to just catch the briefest of glances, before her saviour planted his feet on the tree and jumped off to do more battle. By the time the tree actually started to slide off and fall, Joram was long gone, and the orc was just beginning to separate into its two halves.

Monica could not believe that that was Joram. _How could he jump so high? Then to _jump_ off the tree?!_ Needless to say, she was in shock, her bow hanging uselessly at her side as the top of the tree crashed down on the other side of her perch. Then with a start she began to fire what remaining arrows she had left at the orcs.

Soon enough the battle, if you could call the slaughter in the meadow such, was over. The villagers that he had passed on the way there arrived in time to see the last of the orcs go down under Joram's blades. There were half a dozen villagers dead, and another fourteen anywhere between seriously injured, to barely needing a bandage. It took a while to get some of the women and children to get up though. They were in shock, not really seeing or hearing anything. The whole situation was quite a lot to handle he guessed. _At least they were still alive._ Joram thought to himself, mixed emotions coursing through him. He wanted to yell at them to get up and start to get their live back in order, but at the same time, he himself just wanted to sit down and cry for his dead father.

After a little while, Monica joined him. She stood by him, not saying anything. So he let her follow him around while he gathered people together and had them work on makeshift stretchers for those who could not walk themselves. While that went under way, he went to tend to the wounded. It seemed the village wise woman was one of those seriously injured.

While he worked, he kept hunched over his patients, trying to block the bluish glow his healing technique caused. The Wise Woman was his first priority, for she would be able to help with the others once she was up. Concentrating on the task of healing her, her name was Judith Longchester, he did not notice that Monica and Julia were watching him over his shoulders. Only after he had done with Judith did he notice them, staring in amazement.

With a shake of his head, he looked at them both and said, "Make sure that she gets some water before she gets up." With that said he got up and started away. Monica stopped him by grabbing his elbow, turning him to face her.

"What of the rest of them that went to help your father?" She asked; a look of profound need to know what happened to her parents in her eyes.

_That's right, her parents were there too._ Joram looked away briefly, seeing the fireflies moving about the area. It was a beautiful night. The stars had come out again, and there was a nice breeze coming off the river. With the most difficulty and trepidation he had yet ever felt, he told her.

"I didn't see them on the way here." Joram said, watching her beautiful eyes filling with tears. "I'm so sorry. I'll go and check for them." He said and turned away from those eyes that were full of pain. He wouldn't be able to stay in one piece if he had to stay with her, to comfort her, so he ran. He ran harder and faster than he had ever run before in his life. In no time he arrived at the village.

The houses that had been on fire when he left were now mostly fallen in. The houses that were still standing looked as though they were sentinels standing by their fires in the night. Both sad and ominous all at once. Sad for their brethren that have fallen, and threatening to those that would approach this heinous scene. For it was indeed a most grievous looking sight to behold.

Joram again went to the spot where his father had been, and sorrowed at the loss of his most trusted friend. Momentarily, both sorrow and grief took him into their strong arms and held him tight. After what seemed again like an eternity, he shook himself free of their grasp and went about checking the dead.

It wasn't long after he started to search that he found them. The mayor, good old Len, lay there with an orcish spear through his heart. He looked afraid. Goodwife Sarah lay across him, a deep slash across her back, from left hip to right shoulder. Joram fell to his knees beside them. _Why couldn't I have been faster?_ Joram asked himself harshly as he stared at the couple. Sarah's face held grief in it beyond what he had ever seen on another person before. There were even tears still on her face. Seen by the firelight, they looked like gems falling down her cheeks.

_Wait. She's crying?! She's still alive!_ Joram thought to himself in disbelief. Not wanting to tempt fate, or Katreen, he sat motionless for a moment. Snapping out of it he slowly raised his hands to the wounded area and found his center. It was very difficult, for if he failed he would again have to face Monica, and her sister Julia. Almost harshly he banished the extra thoughts and doubts from his mind so that he could concentrate properly.

_No! I don't have enough left to heal her!_ Joram could not remember the last time he had felt this helpless to help another person. True his father had died, but he was already gone when he had awakened. This time he was there before Katreen took her next person to the next world. And-he-didn't-have-enough-left-in-him-to-help-her! Then, when he thought all was lost, that he couldn't help his childhood friend's mother, he felt it. It was like nothing he had felt before. It was as though a great wellspring of chakra had opened up in him, filling him with life and energy.

Not wanting to waste any time wondering where this energy came from, he set immediately to healing Sarah.

She couldn't bear to watch him run off again, not with her not knowing if her parents were all right or not. With a quick word to her sister to keep a watch out, Monica set off at a dead run after her love.

She could not run near as fast as Joram was. That confused her somewhat. She had always been just behind him when they would race when they were younger, and even more recently. Now, she couldn't even hear him running ahead of her. That didn't matter though, because she would catch him and not let him go.

About half way there she could no longer keep up the pace, so she slowed to a fast jog. Even with all the extra speed, compared to when they passed by the same route earlier that same evening, it still took five or ten minutes to get back to the village. When she got there though, her breath was taken away at how much damage had been done. It looked as though every other house had burnt down to coals. There were dead orcs everywhere, as well as people she knew. Here was old Yacob, he used to make he new dolls when she was little, now he wouldn't be able to cheep up the children with the toys he made. There was Mrs. Dutchingham, she made the best apple syrup for pancakes in the morning.

It took her several more minutes before a blue glow caught her attention. Going over, she saw that it was Joram. _Why is he glowing like that?_ She asked herself, watching him as he knelt there beside someone, hands on their back. With a wrenching lurch of her heart she ran over to Joram to see that it was her mother that Joram was beside. Her throat ceased up as she saw her father laying there with a spear through his chest. Her mother was still laying over him.

As she watched, hardly daring to breath, Joram's glow continued to intensify, and as it did, she could feel the warmth of him, as though his caring has taken physical form to touch her. To her utter amazement, the savage cut across her mother's back began to close up. It looked as though the skin was just re-growing right in front of her eyes, for indeed it was. Not wanting to break the spell, Monica just stood there mutely for minutes on end. After about twenty minutes or so of watching, Joram's light faded quickly. From where she was standing she could see that there were tears on his face, but at the same time, a great smile. Then, as the light went out completely, he fell over.

With that Monica bolted to his side, quickly lifting him so she could sit and cradle him while she attempted to see what was wrong with him. _Fainted. He only fainted. _She thought with relief.

From where she was sitting she could reach out and touch her mother. She did so. Her mother felt warm, the wound on her back healed through miraculous means. After a moment she stirred. Monica stifled a cry of relief as her mother slowly sat up to look around. She saw her husband again and gave a cry of grief.

That cry almost broke Monica's heart to hear. "Mother." She sobbed. At that, Sarah turned around to see her daughter sitting there with Joram in her arms, and more tears welled up in her.

"Oh, Monica." She said as she leaned over to embrace her daughter. They sat there for some time crying, each not wanting to let the other go. Slowly though, Sarah pulled away to arms length from her daughter.

"I saw him go down earlier in the fight." She said as she looked down at Joram's pale face. "He fought so well to give us a chance to get everybody to safety." Her voice broke at that and she bowed her head.

"No, no, mother. He is all right." Monica said, trying to get her mother's attention. "He even came back in time to save the rest of us from a band of orcs that had made their way to where we hid."

"How can that be?" Sarah asked with a great deal of disbelief. "I saw one of the orcs club him in the back of the head and he went down. How could he have gotten up again? How could he even be alive?"

"I don't know mother. I just don't know. But when I got here, he was over you, all aglow. I, I think that he somehow healed you, like he did for old Ms. Longchester before he came to look for you." She said wonderingly. She looked down at the smile that was still on his face and in turn smiled herself. She wouldn't let him go. "He bought you back."

"Is that what the young lady meant?" Sarah asked herself, staring out into the starry sky.

"What young lady?" Monica asked, now looking around for another person that might need help.

"I had the strangest dream as I lay there with your father." She began, "I was walking in a large garden, looking for something. I couldn't remember what it was that I was looking for, but it was very important. I came to this little gazebo with three benches facing inward around the edge, and saw a young lady no much older than you would be. We spoke, but I cannot remember what we were talking about though." She said, a thoughtful look on her face. "Then, before I woke up, she said: Now is not your time, for there is someone to bring you back to where you are needed.' I thought that the oddest thing to say to someone." When she finished she again looked at Joram.

"Where did he get that from?" Her mother asked her, pointing to the circlet around his brow.

"I don't know. He didn't have it before he left to help you all. When he came back he was wearing it as though he had always had it." Monica said, now tracing the fine lines of the circlet to the center gem. The gem was about the size of a fat blueberry, with a pointy bottom that matched the triangle setting it was in. It glittered darkly in the firelight, seeming to pull in the light and make it dance, though still staying as dark as the night.

"The young lady had gems like that in her necklace." Sarah said, sounding somewhat disturbed at the thought of someone she knew having the same kind of gem that the girl had had. Changing the subject, "Will he be all right?" She asked her daughter, now remembering to once again be concerned for the boy. She had helped Jirin raise him after all. He was like a son.

"I think he just fainted." Monica said. Her hand just couldn't stop tracing around his face and brow. "It looked like it took a lot out of him to do what he did." With glowing eyes she said, "Oh, you should have seen it mother. He was kneeling over you, all aglow in blue light! It felt as though I were seeing his soul. The warmth and comfort I felt as I watched him was amazing."

"He is an amazing child." Sarah said, tears forming in her eyes. She then turned to her dead husband. "Your father died protecting me. I thought I would surely die too when I was stuck from behind." She said as her left hand absently reached back to touch the ragged edges of her dress while her right hand was busy closing her husband's eyes for the last time. The terrible wound she had felt was now gone. "Even though the gods have left us all these centuries alone, I am still tempted to say that the gods are watching out for this boy." As she said it she slowly turned to look at Joram. Even now he was regaining his complexion. "An amazing boy."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was that night that my life had forever changed. With my father dead, I didn't know what to do. He had always been there to answer my questions, to help me along when I was having troubles. Admittedly his answers, a lot of the time, were even more confusing to me than the problem I had originally gone to him with. But he had been there to listen to me. That counted for a lot, even though I would, most of the time, leave still pondering my original question.

Little did I know at the time, my life was going to get rather… interesting. I awoke not quite knowing how I had gotten into my bed.

He lay in his bed. Wait. That wasn't right. How had he gotten to his bed? The last thing he remembered was finding Sarah, Monica's mother. It kind of got fuzzy from there.

Shaking his head as he sat up, he realized that he was not the only one in his room. Looking around he saw a couple other people laying on blankets on his floor. There wasn't much room in his room, but there were still two others in there with him. This confused him somewhat. Why were they there?

Again shaking his head, this time in confusion, he reached back to get his pillow so he could lay back down to sleep some more. The sun wasn't up yet after all. Unfortunately for him, his hand didn't find the pillow it was searching for, but instead found someone's head.

Biting back a startled yell, Joram leapt to his feet on his bed. There, to the left of where he had lain, was Monica. She was wearing one of his shirts, and what looked like a pair of his pajama bottoms, more a pair of shorts really. A sudden draft through the room prompted him to look down. Thankfully he was wearing a pair of pajama bottoms as well. Wait. Why was he wearing pajama bottoms? Where was his shirt? What had happened while he was out?

Very carefully, he stepped off his bed and crept over to his dresser and pulled his shirt drawer open. It was dark in the room, and there was little light coming through the window from the moon or stars, but he found a night shirt and pulled it on. With that done, he then, silently, made his way back to his bed. Monica had pulled the covers over herself as she slept. That didn't leave much for him, but he was thankful for the added barrier between him and Monica.

That could have become quite… unnerving having her touching him in his sleep. As is, he didn't know how he could have slept with someone beside him without waking up. Usually, he woke up if someone even looked at him for too long. What happened? Had he suddenly become a heavy sleeper? He had heard of people sleeping through terrible noise, and commotion. But had he really gotten bad enough to be able to sleep through someone going to bed beside him? Having Monica sleeping with him?! How could he have slept through that?!

So, with those kinds of thoughts racing through his head, Joram lay there for another hour or so. Eventually though, sleep took him into her loving embrace and he knew no more.

The following morning Joram woke up and yawned a mighty yawn and stretched. When his arm went back as he stretched, it came in contact with something soft. The something was not hard, nor was it plush. It was skin. With a feeling of dread, Joram turned his head to see what/who he was touching. Monica lay there curled up in the fetal position, probably because he had taken the blankets at some point in the night, most of her legs showing. That was what he touched, one of her long legs near her bottom.

She was also looking at him.

The rest of the people in the house that morning awoke to a resounding smack.

Joram lay there for a few moments, trying to gather his wits about him and information regarding his surroundings. In front of him he could see, what looked like, the ceiling. That must mean that he was on his back. Ok. To his left was the dresser. Hadn't that been on his right? Something underneath him was squirming. He rolled over, incidentally taking a blanket with him, and found that he had been on Julia.

She didn't look happy.

"What are you doing?!" Julia yelled at him, pulling the blanket back from him to cover herself more modestly.

"What are you doing to Julia?" Monica demanded.

"What are you doing in my room?" Joram bellowed right back.

At that, the sisters looked at each other, then back at him. "You have been unconscious since the night before last. We've been watching over you." Monica explained while her mother sat up from where she had been sleeping on the floor

. For some reason, Joram was very happy to see her. That struck him as unusual. Why would he be happy to see the mother of the girl that was sleeping in the same bed that he was? This just kept on getting more and more… unusual. Unusual was getting to be the theme for the day.

"Wait, wait, wait. I've been unconscious for over a day?" he asked, now even more confused. "But…. How…? How is everybody doing? How many people survived? Have the soldiers come back yet?" Joram asked in a torrent. Indeed, the flow of questions seemed to hit them as such. This time it was Sarah that spoke.

"Those who are left are doing well. The soldiers came a couple hours after dawn yesterday. They've been helping out with everyone who was wounded." She said with a small smile. "They seem to know how to treat wounds fairly well. We've been worried about you mostly. You haven't moved since we brought you here."

"Ah, sorry 'bout that." Joram said apologetically. "So, why is everybody here?"

"About half the houses in the village were burnt down." Julia now took her turn to explain things to him. "Admittedly, there was enough room in the other houses to shelter everyone, but we didn't want to spread out too much."

"That makes sense." Joram said, not quite knowing why they chose _his_ room to sleep in. Then something occurred to him. "Where are my things?" He asked as he looked around.

"Your coat and pants were beyond repair." Sarah said, "Your… armour has been cleaned and folded up in the workshop. Your swords are under your bed."

"What about my armlet?" He asked anxiously.

"Oh, that's with the armour." Sarah said, now more curious and a bit concerned. "Now Joram, where did you get that circlet? We weren't able to take it off after we got you here."

"Oh, this… uh… it's… just something my father gave me. It has a minor… spell, yeah, spell, on it that won't let someone take it from me. I have to take it off myself. Heh, heh…." Joram replied/ lied nervously.

"Oh, wasn't that nice of him." Sarah said, now happier about the whole thing. Julia also looked convinced and somewhat envious. It was a rather beautiful piece after all. Monica, on the other hand, didn't look too convinced. But she shook her head and put on a smile anyway.

"So, where are the soldiers staying?" Joram asked, now trying to change the subject.

"Oh, they set up their tents in what is left of the village green. They have been a wonderful help. We've been able to drag the orc's carcasses off to be burned before they started to stink too much, and spread disease." Sarah said, now getting more business like. "We have also been able to bury the dead. We found the Kirkman family, and were able to bury their remains. They were one of the families that didn't think they had anything to worry about." Sarah explained, "We have all been working hard trying to get things back to normal."

"Sorry I slept so long." Joram said, now feeling even worse for having slept so long.

"Don't be." Julia said. "Monica told me what you did for mother, and that's enough for me. You deserved the rest. Especially after that fight."

"I'm sorry Joram, but we weren't able to find Jirin's body amongst the dead." Sarah said, now getting sad and anxious all at once. "We just don't know where he might have fallen."

"Ah," Joram started, but a lump in his throat interrupted. "I don't think you will find his body anywhere. He, he sacrificed himself in such a way that you wouldn't be able to find his body." Joram finished. He thought that his answer sounded somewhat lame, but he didn't want to have to try and explain that the goddess of death herself came and took his body. He figured they already thought him odd enough without adding that to the plate. Because, hey, the gods no longer have dealings with mortals.

"Oh, I see. Well, we'll just have to tell the others this." Sarah said nodding to herself. "Oh. Cam has been wanting to see you, but I told him that you need your rest. I'm sure that he would be very happy to see you today. The Captain of the solders that came back would also like to speak with you. I'm not sure that it will be a pleasant conversation though. He didn't look very happy when he got here and I told him told that you were recovering and couldn't have any visitors."

"Ah. Yeah, he wouldn't be too happy about that. I kinda' left without permission you see. Ah, well. I'll go and have a talk with him after I get something to eat. I'm starved." Joram said, and to punctuate the statement his stomach growled loudly.

"Oh, my." Sarah said. "I'll go and make some breakfast." With that said, everybody started to get ready for the day. Joram quickly dressed himself, took his swords, and left so the women could get ready without him being there to make the whole situation even more uncomfortable.

Looking around the house, he could see signs of other people having been there. Or maybe it was just Sarah and daughters that had cleaned up a little bit. Once in the workshop, he went straight to his armour and armband. The elven chain looked as though it was still brand new. He couldn't even see any flattened rings anywhere on the whole thing. It was simply amazing. Without further delay he put it on over his light shirt, and picked up the armlet. It didn't even have a scratch on it. That was good. He didn't want it marked up. It was a keepsake from his mother after all.

Surprisingly enough, his shoulder satchel was sitting there on the table as well. For that he was also very glad, because it was very valuable, and had many supplies in it. It looked a bit scuffed up, but otherwise in good condition.

A thought then struck him: what else was hidden in the secret cubby hole? Putting on the armlet as he went, he knelt down where he had seen Jirin kneel that day he had given Joram those priceless gifts.

The wall looked like any other part of the wall. Upon closer inspection though, he saw a very faint line in the wall, indicating the edges of the secret portal. After several more minutes of examination, he found a small latch, more like a button. So he pushed it. There was a quiet click' as the catch was released and the small section of wall opened. In the cubby was the chest he had seen, so he dragged it out by one of its handles. It was heavier than it looked.

Once the chest was out of the wall, Joram then looked in to see if there was anything else in there. Indeed there was. Another, smaller, chest was shoved into the corner of the cubby. Reaching in, Joram silently wondered what could be in this chest. For indeed, this one was much heavier that the last one.

Now he was faced with a problem. Which one to open first? After much debate, he decided on the larger of the two. So he opened it and started to go through it. There was another one of the outfits his father had worn that fateful night. There was also a stack of those throwing stars, or shuriken, his father liked to use, though he had never gotten the hang of them. Then he found a pouch full of kunai. Now those were useful to him. Knives he could always use. There were some other things that looked like keepsakes; a lock of silvery blonde hair tied in a royal blue ribbon, a pretty looking stone, a journal with several exotic flowers pressed between the pages. Well, he assumed it was a journal, but he couldn't read the language very well. It was the language they used in his village when he was younger Jirin had told him.

Under that was an old cloak. It had many pockets sewn into the lining, and several sewn on the outer side as well. Now that was interesting, Joram thought to himself as he picked up a large scroll. It must have been two feet tall, and another foot thick! It was so large that it had a second rod to roll it with as you read it. Opening it up, Joram's jaw dropped. It was a scroll of instruction. Here were many techniques on how to use your chakra, or ki. This was amazing. There was also a learner's guild for those who hadn't yet learned how to mould their chakra. This was truly a great treasure.

Beside the large one were other, smaller, scrolls carefully packed for storage. These had things like the human anatomy and how it works, as well as pressure points for combat and healing purposes. There was also a guide on how to use shuriken and kunai, as well as the katana and wakasashi he preferred to use. There also seemed to be a scroll written by his father on how to make swords and other such bladed weaponry, and the mixtures of various metals and other ingredients for making several different types of alloys.

There was also a scroll that was some sort of translation guide for his father's childhood language to high elven, and vice versa. Now that would be handy, since the scrolls were all written in that odd language.

With the first chest gone through, he then started on the second. The second was a little more difficult because it had a puzzle lock on it. It wouldn't take him long before he figured it out though, because his father had spent long hours teaching him how to figure out things like that. So after fifteen or twenty minutes of poking, prodding, and figuring it out, he had it open and was looking through it.

This one must have been Jirin's life savings. There weren't very many coins in it, due to the fact that most of the space was taken up with bags and bags of gems. There was enough in here to buy a small lordship! He had no idea that they had been so rich! "Wow", was the only thing that came to mind. Again shaking his head, got up and retrieved his shoulder satchel and started to put the things back into the larger chest, making a mental note of all what went inside. He then reached over to the smaller chest and pulled it over, marvelling that it was still so heavy.

With a closer look at the chest, he realized that there was a false bottom to the chest. So he reached over and retrieved one of the kunai. He then went about loosening the bottom of the inside of the chest. After a few minutes of careful work it came lose. Again he was surprised at what he found. There, in the false bottom, were six bars of metal. Three were a shiny silvery colour, and the other three were a darker metal, almost charcoal grey. He couldn't believe it. There, before him, was another fortune. Three bars of pure mithryl, and another three bars of pure adamantite. He just couldn't believe his eyes.

Well, at least that explained where he had gotten the metal for the swords Jirin had made for him. With another shake of his head, he began repacking this chest, though he left the false bottom panel out, as well as a couple bags of coins. When he finished repacking everything, he took the chests and put them in his magical bag. It sure held a lot that bag. _Must be some sort of holding bag_, he thought to himself as he hefted the bag. It didn't weigh any more than it had before he put the things in there. That was nice. People wouldn't be too interested on stealing from him if he didn't look like he had much stuff. Though the diadem might throw off the poor look he planned on using once he again left the village.

Picking up his bag Joram headed for the kitchen after a brief detour to his bedroom to collect a few things. There was another one of the women from the village helping Sarah prepare some food. Her name was Lilianne Deen. She lived near the edge of the village with her husband, children and family. Her husband was a Shepard, and they had a small crop of vegetables every year. They were a nice family. Unfortunately, he had seen Mr. Deen taken down the night before last by three orcs with spears.

He had to stop a moment to collect himself before he could approach the two women. Out the kitchen window he could see Monica and Julia playing with Lilianne's three children. The oldest was about six, the next was four, and the youngest was only about one and a half years old. They were going to have some hard times ahead. That thought only firmed his resolve.

The two women still hadn't noticed him by the time he walked up behind them, so they were very startled when he cleared his throat gently behind the two of them. Lilianne was so frightened that she nearly stabbed him with the knife she had been using to chop up some onions when she spun about to see who it was. Sarah blanched somewhat at that, but didn't say anything because Joram had literally bent over backwards to prevent injury from the errant blade. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent him from pulling a muscle to two in his back.

"Oh, Joram! I'm so sorry!" Lilianne exclaimed as she dropped the knife on the counter.

Sarah did something more practical. She helped him stand up straight, then led him to the kitchen table so he could sit on one of the chairs. With him sitting comfortably Lilianne seemed to calm somewhat. Sarah sat in the chair next to his to make sure that he didn't fall over. He seemed quite… limp.

"So, uh…. I was going to give you this to help with the reconstruction of the village." Joram said as he slid one of the bags he had out over to Sarah. It clinked metallically as she picked it up to see what was inside. Of course it was expected that her eyes bug out slightly when she saw the several hundred gold pieces in the bag. What was not expected was that she fainted.

Joram just looked at her prone form sprawled on the kitchen table. Lilianne on the other hand was very anxious to see what had made Sarah faint, so she opened the bag that was just to the left of Sarah's head and took a peek. While Lilianne was thus distracted, Joram got up and ladled out a cup of water from the well water bucket and brought it over to where Sarah lay. He then unceremoniously poured about a third of the cup of cold water on Sarah's head.

That woke her up quickly. She got up quickly and spluttered a few words before she could gather her wits about herself. "Now, that was not called for Joram!" She finally managed to say.

"Well, I didn't want to wait too long for breakfast, so I thought I would wake you up quickly." He said with a mischievous grin while offering her the rest of the cup of water. She took it with, what he interpreted as, a smile of thanks. So it came as a surprise when he sat down again and felt the rest of that cup of water being poured on his head. Holding back any cries of surprise he once might have uttered, he turned to her and said; "That's cold you know."

"You don't say?" Sarah asked innocently.

Shaking his head, Joram went back to the topic at hand. "Like I was saying; that should be enough money to start getting the village back in order. You should be able to get some of the necessary supplies and materials from the capital with that money. Or maybe just go to the dwarves in the east to get the nails and other supplies you might need." Joram said, then slowly trailed off at the look he was getting from Sarah.

"You're planning on leaving, aren't you?" She stated more than asked.

"Yeah, I still need to go with Captain Kenneth to fight in Lord Dimitri's war." He explained.

"But you've done so much already! We need you more than he does! Most of the men have died, and we are going to have a hard enough time as it is bringing the crops in this year." She said, now looking like she wanted to cry again. "We need your help." She almost whispered.

"I'm sorry Sarah, but I can't stay here while others could use my help. I said I would go to war with the Captain and the others, and so I need to go." He said as he got up. "I'll be back to eat once I've spoken with the Captain." Joram said as he made his way out of the kitchen. He went out the front door wanting to avoid telling Monica about his immanent departure.

Once outside he took a deep breath. Gods, it was a beautiful day! The sun was just giving a warm light that warmed the flesh where it touched. It was a nice contrast to the cool breeze coming from the northeast. After standing there for what seemed like an hour, though it was only five minutes, he made his way to the village green to speak with Captain Kenneth. It wasn't far away, but having every other person stop him to thank him for his help, congratulate him on recovering, and giving sympathetic words of comfort for his loss, it wound up taking close to half an hour to get to the village green.

By the time he got there, he was ready to chew rocks. He tried not to show how frustrating it was to have every other person stop him to talk, but some frustration must have shown through for people started to avoid him the closer he got to the village green.

The Captain's tent wasn't hard to find even though it looked like all the others. He was sitting on a log in front of it. With a deep breath to calm his nerves, Joram approached the larger man.

Kenneth finished speaking with one of his men about getting some more provisions before he turned to Joram. He sat there for a while studying him. After about five minutes, Joram finally said: "You wanted to see me"

After another couple of minutes, Kenneth stood up. "Let's go and talk for a bit." He then proceeded to head south out of town. With a shrug Joram followed his superior officer south out of town.

They walked for a few minutes then stopped in a small clearing. Kenneth stood there for a few minutes looking as though he had much to think about. At length he turned to face the young man.

"I'm glad you were able to make it in time to help your village as much as you could." He said, then, "However, we will need to explain things to Lord Dimitri. He has never been one to be… patient where delays are to be found."

"Will you get into trouble for coming back here to help?" Joram asked, now somewhat afraid that he had gotten his friend, for that is what he thought of Kenneth as, in trouble.

"Most likely. But that really doesn't bother me too much. Dimitri likes me well enough to save my hide from a lashing. You on the other hand…." Kenneth trailed off. No need to say that Joram wouldn't get off so easy.

"Oh." Was all Joram could say. He suddenly didn't know if he really wanted to go with Kenneth after all.

"Yes. Timothy won't make it easy on you either. But if we mention that you were instrumental in saving two towns, and the supplies they will bring in, he shouldn't be too angry with you." Kenneth told him, now furrowing his brow further in thought. "We might even be able to convince him that you made sure that a threat couldn't come from behind to bite us in the ass during such a critical time…."

He liked the way this was going, and wanted to encourage that train of thought, but he really didn't want to say anything in case he broke Kenneth's train of thought. The thought of being whipped when he arrived at the castle didn't sit none too well with him. He kept quiet.

After a short while Kenneth came back to reality from his brief trip the land of future planning. He gave Joram a reassuring grin and slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll tell Dimitri the story, and he should just let you off with a week's worth of latrine work. Don't want to encourage too much free action in the military do we?" Kenneth said as he turned back to the village.

"Latrine work?" Joram asked, now feeling queasy.

"Yup. Shouldn't be too hard for you to do." Kenneth stated merrily as he walked back to the village.

Joram just shook his head and followed.

Soon they were back in the town, and Joram excused himself from the soldiers and made his way home. He still couldn't believe it. Why was Kenneth willing to help him? They had known each other for only a week, and he was willing to go out on a limb for him. He could only shake his head at that thought.

Since he was so deep in thought he didn't notice Cam sitting at the table along with everyone else until his childhood friend spoke.

"So! What did the Captain have to say to you? Must not have been good judging by the way you look." Cam teased while eating some bacon.

"Oh!" Joram said when he noticed Cam. "Oh, he said that I would most likely be punished for being such a disobedient soldier."

"What?! How could he say that? You and your father saved X'atur!" Cam couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were going to punish the saviour of two villages for doing the right thing?

"Uh, yeah." Joram said. "He also said… that I would most… likely get off easy… because I _did…_ save two villages… and secured this front… from orcish attacks." That was said as Joram wolfed down large quantities of food. The women in the room just stared at the sight. Never before had they seen food disappear so quickly.

Cam just sat back and made a low whistle when he heard that. Someone was going to stick up for his friend even though they had just met. That made him so happy that he started to eat like he usually did. Which was about half as fast as Joram, and only twice as fast as a normal person.

None of the others wanted to say anything to interrupt Joram from eating. They were afraid that if they did, he would choke on something when his attention was distracted from eating. It was just not normal how fast Joram ate. The women just gave a collective shake of their heads and tried to get some food before it all disappeared.

Soon enough breakfast was done. Monica got up and motioned Joram to follow. Looking around at the others for a clue as to what Monica wanted, Joram got up and followed her into his bedroom. When he got there Monica closed the door behind him.

"What is it?" Joram asked, now worried about the expression on Monica's face.

"You're leaving again." She said, close to tears.

"Yes."

"Why?" She almost sobbed. "We need you here. I need you here." With that she leaned in close and rested her forehead on his chest. It was so warm. She just wanted to stay like that forever.

"I-" Joram started to say. "I just have a feeling that I need to go." Joram tried to explain as he wrapped his arms around her. "You know the feeling you get when someone you know is calling for help? Or when you see a family member hurt themselves badly? It's that feeling of needing to go, that urgency that you feel. That is what I feel when I either think of staying or going. That I _need_ to go."

"But what about us? I want you to stay. I need you to stay." She was now crying. "I don't want to lose you too. I love you." With that she hugged him very tightly. She wasn't strong enough to cause him any real pain, but he could tell that she was hugging him with all her strength, almost as though she feared he would slip away if she let up in the slightest.

"I love you too." He said quietly as they stood there in a fierce embrace. It was a few minutes later when she let up enough so that she could lean back to look up at him. There were tears in her eyes.

"I won't forget you." She said with a quiet, though fierce, resolve.

"Nor I you." Joram replied. Then he leaned forward a bit and kissed her, first gently, then more fiercely when Monica replied by loosing her arms and throwing them around his neck.

Several minutes later Joram exited his room, somewhat flushed, and close the door behind him. He leaned against the door for several minutes while his heart returned to its normal pace. He then made his way to the kitchen. There he found who he needed to speak with.

"Sarah?" He said to get her attention. When she turned from the sink he said, "When I go, I want this to be Sarah's home. You may all stay here until things get back to normal."

"I wish you would change your mind about going…." Sarah said, but Joram just smiled sadly at that. "I'll miss you." She said, then gave him a fierce hug. "Thank you for all that you have done for us."

"You're welcome." Joram said as he returned the hug in kind. Then he stepped back and handed her the other bag of gold he had kept out. "This is for Monica. She can use it any way she wishes."

Sarah just shook her head at that. She couldn't say anything. Her throat felt as though someone had grabbed it tight. With a final good-bye Joram left the kitchen through the back door. Lilianne was out there with her children, as was Julia. When Julia saw the look on his face she headed right over before he could leave the yard.

"So, you are going aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I really was looking forward to having an older brother." Julia said as she too hugged him with all her might. Joram felt a stab of regret at hearing that. He had never had any siblings.

"I'll miss you little sister." Joram said as he gave her a final squeeze and then let her go. "Be good." He said as he turned away to go.

"You too!" Julia yelled after him. She thought is sounded pretty lame, but she really couldn't think of anything else to say to her departing friend as she started to cry.

It took him a short while to find Cam after he left his house for the last time. He found him speaking with the six survivors of their little group. Terry and Kent would be missed.

"Hey, Cam." Joram said as he approached. The others gave him a look that bordered on respect and awe. The townspeople must have spread the tale of the battle. He motioned for Cam to follow him, not wanting to be overheard by the others.

"What is it?" Cam asked, some curiosity creeping into his voice.

"Could you tell the Captain that I will be waiting a few hours up the road for everybody when they leave?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Cam asked in genuine confusion.

"Because I don't want to stay the night here." Joram said softly. "I can't stay here."

"Ah. I get it. You and Monica had another fight?" Cam asked. The way he asked reminded him of the time when he was eight, when his father had gingerly probed his broken arm to see how bad the break was. Joram not only winced at the memory, but at Cam's tone of voice as well.

"Something like that." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"Nice." Cam said, now shaking his head. "Yeah, I'll tell him. You just be careful, ok?"

"No problems there." Joram said confidently. "I'll see you later then." With that said, he made his way out of his home village for the last time.

That was one of the toughest things I had ever done in my life. Now I just had to stick with it. That wasn't easy. I wanted to go back and be with Monica so badly it hurt. But I couldn't. I needed to be away from the place that held both my happiest and most sad memories.

Joram waited out near the road, several hours from X'atur, for the small troupe to come by to pick him up on their way to the castle. He had spent the rest of the day going though form after form with his swords. After several hours of practicing, he put them away and began to go through several kata, or hand to hand fighting techniques. Not wanting to stop to think about what had happened that day, he continued until it was well dark outside. He then ate a light dinner and went to sleep. It wasn't very restful.

Early the next morning he arose and began to go through his morning workout routine. The rest of the troupe didn't get there until close to noon. Kenneth just looked at him, and continued on. Several of the other guys from X'atur looked as though they wanted to speak with him, but he kept a short distance from the rest of them, preferring the silence of the morning over conversation.

The trip to the castle was quite uneventful. The most trouble to be had was when the group passed through Anthus on their way through. Kenneth managed keep most of the recruits from Anthus from leaving. It was tough though, because Timothy kept on trying to re-assert his authority. Kenneth just gave him a look so cold that there should have been frost forming on the stupid man. Timothy practically snarled at him and stormed off.

"That has to be one of the best things I have ever seen." Cam commented to Joram as they watched the whole interchange between the two men.

"I would say one of the most satisfying things I have ever seen." Joram said.

"Definitely satisfying." Cam agreed.

After that it was more or less smooth going. The weather held, and they were able to get some good sleep in before they arrived at the castle. They didn't realize it at the time, but they were going to need it.

The castle and town of Belancourt were huge compared to their villages. There must have been over thirty thousand people who lived there. The wall around the city must have been over twenty feet high, and another ten feet thick. The gates were wide enough to allow ten people riding abreast to go through.

They had arrived at the city a few hours after dawn on their sixth day out. People were coming in from the outlying farms to sell some of their last winter fruit and vegetables, so there were many carts on the road. Only one of the gates was open this morning though. It must be because of the war that was going on, Joram thought to himself. There sure were a lot of guards on the walls, and near the gates.

As they approached, one of the soldiers on duty called out a greeting to Kenneth. Apparently they knew each other because the other side of the gate was opened up to let them through so they wouldn't have to wait in the line of people waiting to have their carts checked. All of this mistrust. He wondered how it would affect his friends from home.

After they entered the city, time seemed to flow by amazingly fast. They were assigned their bunks in the barracks, had their training schedules explained to them, and were out training for a week before Joram was finally called to an audience with Lord Dimitri.

When Joram arrived before the doors of the audience had Kenneth gave him a slight nod, as if to say that it wouldn't be too bad. Joram had had to wrap a strip of cloth over his forehead to hide the diadem from view. Too many people stared or asked questions. He didn't even want to think what Lord Dimitri would to if he saw him wearing it.

Soon enough they were called in. The audience hall was large, about fifty feet long and another twenty five feet wide, though it was made to look small because of all the nobles and their servants attending. There must have been over a hundred people there. What was going on? Could Lord Dimitri want to make his punishment public so as to dissuade any thought of disobedience from those attending? He was suddenly glad that he had a clean uniform on. It wasn't very showy, having only black and blue for colours. The tunic hadn't been made for someone who had shoulders like him. It was kind of tight.

Kenneth abruptly stopped with a clack of his heel on the stone floor and saluted. Joram quickly follow suit and saluted just as Kenneth had. There were some murmurings at that, and even a few laughs. What had he done? Had he not done it right? Risking a glance at Kenneth, Joram saw that his friend was trying not to laugh. This confused him even more. He quickly looked forward again to see Lord Dimitri get up off the large wooden throne and make his way down the three stairs to them.

"At ease." Dimitri said to them while looking them over. He was not a very tall man, probably a couple of inches shorter than he was. He had long brown hair that went past is narrow shoulders and was tied back with a black ribbon. He looked to be in his late thirties, maybe early forties. He was narrow of jaw but wore a full goatee fairly well. It made him look somewhat… predatory though. It was his eyes that really caught his attention though. They were a light grey with flecks of gold. But that wasn't what kept his attention. It was the shrewdness that he saw there that made him wonder.

After he had looked over them to his satisfaction, he turned around and said, "So, this is the boy that caused us to wait so long to get some new troops? Admittedly, they were not a large number of troops, but they were needed none the less." He proceeded to say as he slowly walked around the two while people murmured at what they heard. "It was reported to me that from the first day this boy started to gather a small bad of followers together. For what purpose, we know not." He said in a foreboding tone of voice. "I was told that he managed to convince our good Captain here to turn around and go back the way they had just come because he claimed to see smoke. I was also told that he ignored orders to stay with the troupe, and went off on his own anyway."

As Lord Dimitri continued his monologue, the lords and ladies present gave Joram more and more scandalized looks the whole time. Some of the looks were down right hostile. He was getting decidedly uncomfortable with their scrutiny. Lord Dimitri continued.

"So, as a result of this boy's disregard of orders, twelve would be soldiers and two actual soldiers have died." The gathered nobility's scandalized and angry murmuring rose in volume. "As a result, over a thousand people's lives have been saved."

The agitated buzz of the nobles' chatter stopped abruptly at that last proclamation.

Joram himself was somewhat shocked at the tone of respect and gratitude coming from Lord Dimitri. Timothy, who was watching the whole thing with a smug smile on his face while nibbled at some cheese, choked at that last part.

"So, it is with great pleasure that I would award Joram a knighthood this day." Nobody could believe what they were hearing. Lord Dimitri had just spent ten minutes tearing down this boy just so that he could put him up higher. Timothy was turning purple.

Dimitri motioned for Kenneth to take Joram's sword, the katana, and give it to him. When done, Lord Dimitri stood for a moment staring at the blade. Joram had put away the set of swords that his father had given him on the way to the castle, and instead wore the blades that he had made himself. He was suddenly glad that he had, for Lord Dimitri was staring at his sword in a most unusual manner.

After a moment of contemplating the sword he held, Lord Dimitri knighted Joram as Sir Joram Stormborn. He was then given lands to look after, a whole village even. The village was X'atur. Joram could hardly believe what was happening. The whole time he was standing there, he expected to be taken away at any moment to be punished. Now he was rewarded, knighted, and given lands? What was going on?

"Now, you shall also have your own company. All of the men from X'atur that came with you shall be in your company, and whoever else amongst the soldiers who wish to join your band." Dimitri said in as grand a manner as he could. After several moments of dead silence, save for Timothy still choking of course, the gathered nobles started to clap and cheer. Dimitri looked exceedingly proud of himself for working the crowd up. Joram thought that most of them were only clapping because they were supposed to.

After announcing that there would be a feast for the new knight, Lord Dimitri handed Joram back his sword. "I look forward to speaking with you more, my young friend. You should go and get some proper clothing fitted for tomorrow night." With that said, he handed Joram a small purse that clinked with gold and headed off.

"Impressive. Here only a week, and you're already a knight." Kenneth said from beside him.

"How did this happen?" Joram asked in shock.

"I guess he wants you dead more than I thought he would." Kenneth said, now more sombre sounding. "He doesn't like to have heroes around. If any do show up, they are given command of a unit and wind up dead. Guess he doesn't like the people forgetting about him and his great deeds."

"Great. Just wonderful." Joram said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. "Father told me that the outside world was bad, but not this bad!"

"My suggestion," Kenneth said in all seriousness, "is that you get a wound that will take you out of active duty to a more calm position. Like being a clerk. Nobody ever mistook a clerk for a hero."

"I think I would rather die again…." Joram muttered to himself so Kenneth couldn't hear. Louder he said, "Don't worry. I can always arrange to make it look like I died or something."

"You wouldn't be able to go home you know." Kenneth said with some concern.

"I can't go home anyway." Joram said, "Let's get out of here. These people are starting to bother me." Kenneth nodded his understanding and led the way out. They managed to dodge most of the higher ups, but a couple of them did manage to stop them briefly. All said and told, Joram found them rather annoying. Didn't they know how to shut up?

So it was twenty long minutes later that Kenneth and Joram emerged from the audience hall looking somewhat harassed. Kenneth then led him to a tailors shop so he could be fitted for a more expensive looking outfit. The tailor looked like he would fall off his stool when Joram said he only needed one outfit. Kenneth intervened and told the poor fellow that he was joking and would need five, but one of them by afternoon tomorrow.

The bartering soon followed. Joram couldn't care less about bartering for clothing, so he just dropped the purse of money on the counter and told him to take his measurements. They were able to leave a half hour later.

Again, Joram didn't look like he was in the best of moods. Kenneth looked… concerned. Normally Joram was an, almost, cheery fellow, but today he wasn't. He guessed that it was the fast that Lord Dimitri was trying to get rid of him. Heck, that would make him nervous.

Truth be told, Joram wasn't looking forward to all the teasing from his friends back at the barracks. They would have a hay day with this. Especially Cam. This was going to be a long day.

And so it was. Joram endured the good natured jibes at him and his good fortune, for a while. They all called him Sir This or Sir That, and bowed as much as they could. They finally got the idea that it was annoying him when he proclaimed that Yan would be beheaded for bothering him. He went so far as to draw his sword and take a few steps towards him. He even flared his aura just enough so that it was barely visible to the naked eye. That shut them up. So it was that he was finally able to get to sleep that night, though several of the other boys seemed somewhat apprehensive about sleeping in the same room as he. They didn't know if he would get serious and really chop one of their heads off. That line of stupid speculation was abruptly ended when Cam threw a pillow at Joram. The night ended with a huge pillow fight. They didn't sleep much.

The next morning rolled around and they all went about their drills. Everyone except Joram, that is. A messenger came shortly after dawn to deliver his invitation to the upcoming feast. The master of the barracks was also told, though he had already heard the gossip, of Joram's… promotion.

He found himself packing shortly there after. It seems that a knight is not supposed to stay in the new recruit's barracks. He was to stay with the other knights in the barracks found in the castle itself. He could pick out his men, train with them, but wasn't supposed to stay with them. That was idiotic. Who made up these rules?

That morning, after he had transferred his minimal belongings to the knight's quarters, he sat with the other knights and broke his fast. They talked about politics, women, and the raids that had been occurring. They spoke of the mercenaries that Lord Dimitri had hired as though they carried a disease. Well, several might actually have been diseased, but that was beside the point. Lord Dimitri had hired mercenaries.

Throughout the rest of the morning Joram tried to collect as much information about the mercenaries, and why Lord Dimitri had hired them, as he could. It seemed that Lord Dimitri had spread word that their rival, Lord Yandegal, had been attacking them of late, trying to expand his holdings. That was interesting.

So Lord Dimitri had hired a few hundred mercenaries to swell his ranks. He then proceeded to counter attack Lord Yandegal. The whole affair had been blown out of proportion, and a war was declared. Joram got the distinct impression that something was missing from the story.

He didn't have enough time to gather more information however, for it came time to pick up his new clothing. He then went to the annoying tailors shop, and the fellow almost fainted when Joram was just going to leave without trying the coat on first. With a sigh, Joram complied.

The coat was long enough to come to his mid thigh; it was made of a dark blue silk with silver thread embroidery up the sleeves. It fit very well in the shoulders, and for that he was very grateful. It would be hard enough to fight in this thing as is, and if the shoulders didn't fit well, well, that would cause some problems. While Joram checked the fit, the tailor was again taking measurements to make sure the other coats would turn out well. When the tailor, Joram didn't even bother to ask him his name, finished, he packed up the coat, pants, and white shirt for travel. Joram thanked him and left with as much speed as he could manage without seeming overly rude. He hated going for new clothes.

The rest of the day passed without incident. He went and practiced with his new squad, which comprised of his fellow X'aturians, and the recruits from Anthus. A few others from the barrack wanted to join as well, so he let them. He then proceeded to organize them into smaller groups for training, leaving Cam in charge, and went off on his own to train.

The time passed quickly as Joram practised his forms. He was so absorbed in it that he had failed to notice Kenneth's approach.

"Time to go and get cleaned up." He said as Joram nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Don't do that!"

Kenneth just chuckled at that and led the way to the baths so they could clean up. It didn't take long before Joram was cleaned up, shaved, dressed and ready to go. He had put his elven chain on over his under shirt and under his white, fancy, shirt. The coat went on next, and his sword belt was strapped on over his coat. His armlet was thin enough so it wasn't noticeable under the coat. That was good, for he didn't want to answer any questions as to where it had come from. The tailor had even included a roll of silk ribbon, the same blue as his coat, so that he could tie his shoulder length black hair back instead of using his bandana.

That could cause a problem. The bandana didn't go at all well with his new outfit. With a sigh, he took the bandana off and tied his hair back with the ribbon, tying it at the nape of his neck. The diadem went very well with the outfit, the dark gem gleaming brightly in the dieing sunlight coming through the window. All in all, he struck a handsome figure. Time to go to the feast.

Kenneth met him halfway to the audience hall where the feast was to be held. He was dressed in his best military attire, with a ceremonial sword that actually looked like it could do something useful. "Shall we do this?" He asked Joram as they approached the doors to the hall.

"Don't want to, but hey, what else am I going to do tonight?"

Kenneth laughed softly at the joke and handed the attendant his invitation. Joram did the same and was permitted to enter. The hall had been cleared of any excess furniture and replaced with many long tables put together into a horse shoe with Lord Dimitri at its base. Several bards played their songs amongst the gentry, and the servants kept the goblets full. There were even more nobles here than there had been the day before, all dressed in their best. He was somewhat intimidated by the number of people there.

At length, Lord Dimitri noticed Joram standing there with Captain Kenneth and waved them over. Joram looked at his friend who nodded to him in encouragement, and headed over. As he passed the gentry they stopped in their conversations to stare at him. That didn't make him at all self conscious. Nope, not one bit.

"Good to see that you were able to make it Joram. Come, sit with me." Dimitri said as me motioned to the empty chair to his right. Joram looked at Kenneth quickly, for there was only one chair open.

"I'll see you later Joram." Kenneth said to him, then to Lord Dimitri, "My Lord." With that, he bowed and went over to a nearby table to speak with some friends.

So Joram sat with Lord Dimitri that evening, and they spoke of inconsequential matters the whole evening. At one point Lord Dimitri stood up and called for silence. He then introduced Joram to all those present, declaring him a friend and asset to his Lordship. Several of the younger ladies eyed this new person in their midst. He must be rich, they thought to themselves, to have a diadem such as that, and that he was cute.

So after everyone had eaten sufficiently and had time for their stomachs to settle, the tables were pulled back and the floor cleared so that they could dance. Joram didn't like that one bit. He didn't know how to dance. Barring that, and many excuses, he was dragged off to the dance floor to meet his doom. They would all laugh at him for not knowing how to dance. He would be an outcast forevermore!

The ladies he danced with didn't seem to mind teaching him how to dance. As a matter of a fact, they seemed to enjoy his stammering and blushing. With a great act of willpower alone, he managed not to trip over any of the large dresses as he danced, and even seemed to improve as the night went on. Each dance partner ran out of breath long before he did, so it wound up that he had almost a dozen dance partners by the time the night came to a close with Lord Dimitri announcing that he would retire for the night.

Kenneth managed to find Joram with some difficulty, for Joram was almost completely hidden by a group of young ladies, and some older than the boy, telling him to come and visit them at their respective manors. It took quite some time to get through the crowd of girls and women, but he managed to drag a severely blushing Joram away before he could burn up.

Plucking a square of lacy silk, with a young ladies name embroidered in one corner, from the back collar of Joram's coat, Kenneth led the way out of the hall.

"So, how did you enjoy your first feast?"

"I, ah, well…. It was nice." Joram said as he ran his hand through his hair, noticing that his ribbon was missing.

"I bet." Kenneth said with a grin. "Just watch out for those young wolves; they'll tear you apart." With that he handed the young man the handkerchief he had retrieved from his collar.

Joram just added it to the other six in his pocket. He was amazed at how many he found. When had they managed to put them in all those places? Shaking his head he chatted idly with Kenneth before they split off to their respective destinations.

As Joram undressed for bed, he found another three of the lacy things in his shirt and coat. He couldn't help but shake his head again as he washed his face and scrubbed his teeth before bed. Before he blew out the lamp in his small room, he went and bolted the door closed. No telling what those crazy girls might do.

That night he dreamt.

He was walking through the featureless landscape again. The same one he had walked through the night he had met Katreen. This time it didn't take long for the castle to appear before him. Looking at it, he realized just how small he was. This place was easily large enough to hold several cities the size of Belancourt. Had it always been this large?

Shortly, he found himself in front of the gates to the keep. There standing before him, as like last time, was Katreen. She was dressed in the same style of dress as before, and wore the same jewellery. This time she was smiling.

"It's good to see you again Joram Stormborn." She said with a smile.

"Have I died again?" Joram asked with no small amount of confusion in his voice.

"No. I just wanted to speak with you. Come." She again led the way through the familiar corridors, passing many hallways along the way. In short order he found himself in the same room that he had been to the first time. She motioned for him to have a seat as she herself sat.

"I have some troubling news for you." She began, "I have seen a necromancer working for Lord Yandegal."

"Ah, that's not good." He said somewhat lamely.

"No, it is not. If it is one thing that I despise, it is the Undead." Joram got the impression that he should be glad she wasn't angry with him. "They are abominations to both life and death. You must go and destroy this necromancer in any way that you can."

"How am I supposed to kill a necromancer? He'll just cast some spell and fry me!" Joram said, almost sarcastically.

His tone didn't fall on deaf ears. "You cannot truly die Joram, nor will you age. This is the curse you have been cursed with. You cannot die until I remove the curse. Let's just say that you will have to accumulate enough… points to truly die."

"Huh?"

"Each night after you have "died", you will be brought here to get an evaluation. If you have "died" in a heroic manner, you will have points added. If you have "died" in a manner that is other that dignified, you will lose points." She explained with a small smile. "Once you have accumulated enough points, you may chose to die permanently."

"How many points do I have to get?" Joram was very confused, and somewhat scared. What had happened to him? What had Jirin done by binding his soul to Joram's?

"That will be discussed at a future time." She said as she stood up and held a hand out to him. "Now, we shall dance."

Joram fell over as he was getting up. "Dance?" he choked.

"It has been too long since I have last danced with someone." She said as she helped him to his feet.

"I only just learned." Joram protested weakly. A goddess wanted to dance with him! What was the world coming to?

"I know, I was watching." Suddenly there was music playing in the background, and Joram found himself dancing this he beautiful goddess of Death. She didn't dance too well. She must be out of practice.

_Again my life changed when I spoke with Katreen that night. When I awoke the following morning, I went about getting my squad up to par to go and fight the undead that would surely be sent against us. I had the archers also train with quarter staffs instead of their bows. Bows didn't do much good against skeletons. _

_It took two months to get them to a level that I was comfortable with. Cam didn't take too well to using a staff, but he adjusted fairly well after his first encounter with a score of skeletons._

_It has now been three months since this whole mess started. You wouldn't believe how angry I was when I had finally found out that it had been Lord Dimitri who had started the war. I couldn't really do anything about it though. I still have to deal with this necromancer._

Looking around, Joram could see a heat source off past the perimeter of the camp, must have been a fox wandering past in the night. That was a good sign, for if there were still animals around that meant that there were no undead in the area. Funny how the animals could sense that on their own. He still couldn't sense the abominations without his diadem on.

Looking up at the clear, moonless sky, Joram sat there for a time. Most of the original men that he had gone out with were dead. They had been replaced with others whenever he would run across a scattered band of Lord Dimitri's soldiers.

Lord Dimitri had been all too pleased when he finally learned of the necromancer Lord Yandegal had teamed up with. All too pleased to send Joram and his band to take out the powerful necromancer. Lord Dimitri would be able to get rid of the rising hero with a valid excuse. Joram guessed that Dimitri expected him to die while fighting. Little did he know, little did he know….

With his musings done for the night, he went over to the next soldier to wake him up for his watch. He would be glad to get some sleep that night. So with Vincent up and alert, Joram went to sleep.

The next few days were uneventful, save for the fact they were running out of supplied, and they were a week away from any friendly settlements. They were only a day or so away from Lord Yandegal's castle, and animals to hunt were getting scarce. No natural wildlife wanted to stay anywhere near the undead.

Joram inspected his small band of soldiers, only sixty three in number. Most of them knew of his ability to "cast" spells. Over the long months, Joram had taught himself a couple other Jutsu listed in that large scroll of instruction. One of them was a fire breath. That worked really well with zombies.

He hoped that most of them would survive the coming battle with the necromancer. Through all the months they had been fighting, no one had been able to learn his name. Everyone just called him the "Necromancer".

There was also something else that was bothering him. How come there have been an increase of zombies over the past few weeks? The number of actual confrontations between the soldiers of the two sides have decreased. So there should not have been enough bodies to account for the increase of Zombies.

Pondering that point as they stopped for a short lunch, Joram was struck by a sudden, sickening, realization. Lord Yandegal and the Necromancer must be using civilians to swell the ranks of zombies. No. Nobody would be that heartless, that cruel. Could they?

Joram just about lost his lunch.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It had been two days since Joram had made the realization of where Lord Yandegal and the Necromancer had been getting their stock. He had told his men that same afternoon. They hadn't taken the news well. Several of them had actually thrown up at the thought of using your own people like that.

The small band of soldiers sat near the top of a hill, an hour or so before dawn, just south of what had once been the city of Aries, a city that was nearly as large a Belancourt. Now the city had an imperceptible gloom about it. The buildings looked normal, the gates intact, but there were no people to be seen. No people going about their daily lives, no children playing in the streets. Instead, every now and then, they could see a shuffling figure wandering through the city.

Even at that distance, they could tell that those were zombies.

"Light protect us." One of the men behind him said in a whisper. The Light indeed protect them.

"We will set out after dawn. Get what rest you can." Joram said, and the word was passed along. Cam stayed with Joram.

"Do you suppose we have any chance of getting anywhere near that Necromancer alive?" Cam asked quietly.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"No." Joram said as he turned to regard his best friend. "That is why you are going to take the men back to Belancourt."

"You plan on going on alone?"

"I have a better chance of doing this alone." Joram explained quietly.

"I pray that our paths may cross again one day." Cam said as he leaned over to give his friend a fierce embrace.

Joram returned the bear hug in turn. "Once you see the city burning, take them back. That will be the sign that I have succeeded in my mission."

"You don't plan on coming back, do you?"

"Not for a very long time." With that said, Joram stood up and took one last look at his band of courageous soldiers. Most of them couldn't even grow a proper beard yet. Not that he could yet, but that was beside the point. They were young, and had long lives ahead of them.

Joram just hoped that they would make it home after they left.

He was sitting atop what he assumed was an inn. He had gotten this far by jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He was only another few hundred yards from the main keep. And now he was stuck. Before him stood a creature that looked like a man, except for the several horns sticking out of it's head slightly elongated head, bat like wings on it's back, a long thin tail with a barb at the end, and hands and feet that sported very nasty looking claws. It's skin also looked to be made of granite. All in all it was ugly. Unfortunately it was also tough.

Joram casually re-sheathed the katana he had made. He then quickly took the two swords and dropped them into his shoulder satchel, then taking out the swords his father had made him. He put these in their place at his hip just as another three of the creatures landed around him. This was going to be tough.

The one behind him and to his left attacked first. It swung its clawed hand at the back of his leg, trying to cripple him. Joram jumped well over the attack and came down behind and to the right of the creature, sword flashing in the morning light. The creature fell over, now headless. The other three howled in furry and charged all at once.

For several minutes it was all Joram could do to keep the three creatures off him, swinging his two swords, and dodging to the best of his ability. Here, one would slash him across the thigh, there one would smack him in the back with a tail or wing. He, on the other hand, managed to take off a few claw like fingers here, and a wing there.

The creatures didn't seem to be tiring in the least. That put his plans off somewhat. He was used to fighting someone until they became too tired to react properly. These creatures didn't seem like they would tire at all, if ever.

So he decided to try something somewhat… rash. He threw himself backwards and rolled a dozen or so feet back. When he came to a crouch, he quickly sheathed his wakasashi so he could perform the necessary hand seals.

The creatures ran full into his Phoenix Fire jutsu, and did they howl. The fire was hot enough to crack the tiles that covered the roof beneath their feet. Just to make sure that they were dead, he kept up the jutsu for another few seconds after the horrible screams had stopped. When he lowered his hand, he was quite surprised at what he saw.

The roof tiles had at first shattered, then melted. Not only that though, but the creatures he had been fighting had melted too. They looked like grotesque ice sculptures that had halfway melted then were frozen again. They still glowed a soft red amongst the fire he had started. With a shake of his head Joram got up and sheathed his katana, now looking for the next roof to jump to before this building caught any more on fire than it already was.

Soon enough he was again jumping form rooftop to rooftop getting closer to the keep. He just hoped his little light show had gone unnoticed by the residents of the keep.

"Ah, so some fool dares to come and oppose me, hmm?" The man in a pitch black robe mused. "Interesting. I wonder how much fun he will prove to be…?" He said as he walked around a large table full of equipment for his foul art.

He stopped in front of a gaunt man, gibbering man. The fellow appeared to be quite mad, for he was drooling slightly out the right side of the mouth while carrying on a conversation with one of the stools about what each colour of the rainbow tasted like.

"I'm sorry that you are not in a condition to appreciate the spectacle that will soon be had my dear Yandegal." The man said in mock sympathy. "I wonder if these new types of zombies I've been working on will prove useful?" The black clad man asked the former Lord of Aries. Yandegal just responded with some spit bubbles. At that the man stood up straight again and let out a laugh that came from the belly. Unlike most laughs that come from the belly, this one chilled all those that heard it.

That laugh he had heard a few minutes before was quite disturbing. _Then again, the only people left alive in this place must be quite disturbed themselves… ah, well_. Joram thought to himself as he climbed the up the side of the keep. It was somewhat slow going because the masons had cut the stone really well so they fit together with very little mortar.

Even then he was making good progress. He was just glad that zombies couldn't use bows at all. Or even climb walls. That was a boon. That was probably the only reason why he hadn't been torn apart by the hoards of zombies yet. They couldn't climb.

Looking up he tried to determine which window the laughter had come from. It was kind of hard because of, one; the angle from which he was looking, and two; the fact that there were about ten or twelve windows to be seen from where he was. Well, one window was as good as another at this point. With that thought in mind he chose the second one from the right above him.

This was definitely not the right room. Nope, not the right one by a long shot. From where he was in the window, he could see most of the disturbing room. It was done in a scarlet and pink theme. Looked like a bridal suite or something. Unfortunately it wasn't empty. What was more unfortunate was that the zombies therein were: one; all female, two; dressed in skimpy lacy strips of cloth that left nothing to the imagination, and three; they were all chained up in the most degrading and compromising positions he had ever seen. Not that he had ever seen a woman in this kind situation before! This was just beyond any effort fathom. How could anyone be this sick?

As he was about to leave he heard something that made his blood run cold and made him want to empty his stomach. It came from one of the zombies. With an effort greater than when he had left his village he went all the way into the room.

One of the zombies was staring at him. It was the one that had spoken. "Kehll… meee…." It repeated. He could sense that the body was dead.

"What are you?" Joram asked it, pushing down the urge to throw up as he approached.

"Meeee… shtirlll… heeerre." It said in the most pathetic and hopeless voice imaginable.

Had the necromancer bound that lady's soul to her corpse after she had died? Was she aware of what was going on around her, unable to act in any way? Was this to be this person's hell? Not to be able to move, to do, to live? And when her flesh rots away, what would then happen? Would her consciousness still be attached to her bones, to remain for eons trapped to the frame that had housed her soul in mortality?

Soon the other eleven zombies noticed him standing there. They all repeated the same thing. Kill them. Kill them please.

He could no longer bear their pleas for release. So he went about the grisly work of decapitating all those in that room. With each one he could almost hear a sigh of relief as his sword descended to end their torment.

Burning with a rage he had never felt before, Joram made his way to the window and began to climb the building once again. When he reached the next row of windows up, he stopped and listened very carefully for any voices or laughter. There. The third window to the left. He recognized that laugh. He was going to make sure that that person never laughed again.

It took him another ten minutes or so to make his way carefully over to that window. Very slowly he raised his head enough so that he could peek in with one eye. To the far right of the room a man was having a conversation with a cloak stand. He was dressed fairly well, though his attire was stained and dirty. It was the second person in the room that really caught his attention when he walked into view.

This man was tall and gaunt. He wore a tight skull cap on his head. He looked like he was either bald, or he shaved his head. He wore long, flowing, black robes with many pockets. He also had a belt with dozens of little pouches and bags hanging from it. What really caught his attention was that the man was leading a zombie to the door.

That decided it for him. That man must be the necromancer. Before his conscious mind could register what his body was doing, he was already in the room and running for the necromancer. As he came within four feet of the necromancer the zombie spun around and punched him in the face hard enough to not only halt his forward momentum, but to send him flying six feet through the air, and to slide another ten feet along the floor. The man in the dirty clothes suddenly started clapping his hands saying what a wonderful show this was.

"Ah, I hadn't expected you to come through the window like that my young friend." The necromancer said in a concerned tone of voice. "I was just taking Christopher here to meet you at the door should you arrive."

Said Christopher was a very large zombie in good repair, meaning that he was almost hardly touched by rot. He also seemed to move like he was still alive; none of the halting, shuffling movement that would indicate he was a zombie.

Joram shook his head in a vain attempt to clear it.

"Ah, but where are my manners? Christopher, help our guest to his feet." Christopher then headed over to Joram and picked him up easily by the front of his tunic. "Now Christopher, you forgot to help him with is sword." The nameless necromancer chided.

Again the zombie complied with the orders of its master. It shifted Joram's weight to one hand and reached down with the other to collect his fallen sword. Joram just couldn't pass up the opportunity. In a flash Joram had both unsheathed his wakasashi, and severed the arm that was holding him up. As Joram dropped to the floor the zombie again reacted faster than he had expected it to.

It used the lack of weight from its missing arm to spin around and slash him with his own katana. Fortunately enough for him the dull side hit. Unfortunately he was again hit hard enough to send him sliding across the floor again. Christopher was there in an instant, slashing away at him.

As Joram ducked a wild swing from Christopher he dropped the rest of the way down and did a sweep kick that dropped Christopher to the floor. Joram was up in an instant forming his hand seals. Christopher was able to get to its knees just in time to get a torrent of flames in the face. The flames lasted for about ten seconds before they abruptly stopped due to Joram being hit by a lightning bolt full in the back. That sent him flying yet again. He was starting to enjoy the feeling of flying through the air, though not what caused him to do so.

Funny thing was, he could swear that he saw Katreen standing off to one side as he flew by. Oh, his heart just stopped. You just noticed the oddest things when you were flying through the air.

As he lay in the far corner of the room they were in, Joram could hear the Necromancer complain that the fun was over too soon for is taste, and at how angry he was that the intruder had managed to hurt his cute little creation. That made Joram's blood boil. The freak was more worried over an abomination than a human being?!

Something inside of him snapped. Suddenly there was a massive torrent of chakra flowing through him. To the outside observer, he was now brightly glowing blue. To Joram, he felt stronger than he ever had before. For some odd reason, he could swear he felt Katreen smile. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew.

Slowly getting to his feet, Joram stared bloody murder at the necromancer. It seems that the necromancer felt something was horribly wrong, because he suddenly looked up with a worried expression painted on his face. When he saw Joram taking slow steps towards him he blanched.

"You! You're supposed to be dead!" The necromancer said as he backed up slowly. Lord Yandegal was now peering through the bottom of one of the more bulbous beakers oohing and aahing.

"Those women were supposed to have been dead as well. But no. You had to bind their souls to their corpses!" Spittle was now flying from his lips as he started to do a complex series of hand seals.

"My precious-!" the nameless necromancer was cut off abruptly by Joram's yell of, "Meteor Storm!" With that yelled, Joram inversely cupped his hands towards the necromancer and dozens of fireballs the size of his head came forth and slammed into, not only the necromancer, but Christopher as well. Each fireball made a small explosion upon impact and lit whatever was flammable around it.

The necromancer's agonized screams could be heard for the fist few moments of the attack, but was abruptly halted when one of the fireballs entered his mouth and ended his life with a bang. Lord Yandegal was crying like a little child in a corner, but was soon encompassed in flames. One of the last coherent things said by Yandegal before he completely succumbed to the flames was for his wife to forgive him.

Joram didn't know Yandegal's wife at all, but he guessed if she had been one of those zombies with its soul bound to it, he wouldn't be forgiven any time soon.

With that thought in mind Joram again went to the window and climbed out. He hoped the whole building took fire. Maybe then would the land be able to forget about the scourge of undead that had come from this place. A couple of levels down, Joram entered another room. This one was richly furnished with expensive woods and cloth. Not even thinking of the beauty of the room, Joram went to the fireplace and removed several of the unburned logs and placed them on the bed. He then went back for the tinder box on the mantle and lit a taper. He then went back to the bed and carefully started a fire. With that done he again left by means of the window.

Half an hour later Joram had repeated the process another five times before he came to a window on the other side of the keep that led to the library. There were several zombies wondering around in there, but they were easily dispatched from this realm. After doing so he went to the doors that led to the library and closed them. He then proceeded to barricade them so that the remaining zombies in the castle couldn't easily beat the doors open.

Now it was time to peruse the library. He didn't have much time, but he soon found several sections that looked interesting. One of them was a section on herbologie and healing. That would come in useful. So he took several of the more extensive volumes and shoved them into his magical shoulder satchel.

He also found a section on trades. Wood working, stone working, engineering, gem cutting, astrology, tailoring, and carpentry, were among the volumes he found. So he took them and put them in his shoulder satchel. Again, he silently thanked his father for this amazing gift.

Looking around once more, he realized that he should hurry, for there was now smoke seeping into the library from the main doors. On his way out though, one particular section caught his interest. Wizardry.

And so it was that Joram left the library half an hour later, coughing and spluttering, though grinning from ear to ear. He had definitely found a treasure trove of knowledge that he had been able to exploit. He felt somewhat guilty for burning down such a huge library, but shrugged it off. This place needed a whole new start; nothing could remain.

He took the descent slowly. Mainly because he couldn't climb down nearly as well as he could climb up, but also because he didn't want to drop in the middle of a gathering of zombies. He didn't think that they would want to be anywhere near such a large fire, being somewhat flammable themselves, but he had seen odder things that day.

So he was greatly relieved that there were no zombies anywhere near where he was when he dropped the last ten feet to the ground. The castle had taken quite nicely to the fire. Though none of the other buildings would catch fire, they were just too far away. So, making up his mind to help, he set about lighting the buildings in the immediate area on fire. It felt good to help.

When he got to the merchant's district, he paused. There were many valuable things in this section of the city. There really wasn't any wind out today, so the fires wouldn't reach it for at least an hour. He smiled to himself. Loot!

He first visited the goldsmith section. There he found many different types of jewellery. Bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc… He perused for a short while, taking what he thought looked really nice. He then over to a gem cutters' shop. There were several nice gems on display. He took those, and went in the back to find some equipment and maybe a stash of gems too. Again, he left very happy. He had acquired many of the tools he would need if he ever took up gem cutting. He had also found a large safe with a lot of gold and gems inside.

It was now fairly smoky in this district. He guessed that it was time to start heading on. As he made his way around the block something again caught his eye. It was a sign that depicted a set of scales and some gold and silver coins. That deserved inspection.

So he went in the large building for a peek. Inside there were several closed off booths with bars on the front of the counter. Off to the right there were a few decaying pieces of what looked like a person or two. That wasn't good. Neither were the rasping grunts he was hearing. He turned to the left to see seven zombies making their way to him.

He sighed. At least they were moving like proper zombies. He then drew both swords and waited for the group to elongate somewhat. A couple of the zombies were in a more advanced state of decomposition than the rest, so they would lag behind somewhat.

The first of the zombies reached out and took a swing at him. He ducked underneath the swing and swung his sword out horizontally, taking it down at the knees. It didn't seem to mind because it was now going to fall on its' victim. But Joram was already moving to the right as the creature fell face first onto the stone floor. With a sickening… suction like splatting sound its head popped open and the contents spewed themselves across the floor.

Now Joram was really glad that he had gotten out of the way. That really stank.

The next few zombies each took swings at him while he dodged around the room. He then doubled back on one of the zombies and took its head off with a quick mid air spin. When he landed though he slipped on some of the gore and went down hard. With the air blasted out of his lungs, it took him a moment to get to his feet. By that time though, he was surrounded, and the zombies were closing in too fast for his liking.

So Joram sheathed his swords, formed a quick couple on hand seals, and jumped out of their midst. Immediately upon landing he sprinted back to get a few shots at the zombies before they had a chance to turn around all the way. And so another three went down. That left two.

The two were so decomposed that they could hardly be recognized as once being human. It didn't matter to them though, they were going to be able to smash and tear the life out of another hated human. Unfortunately that human still had two sharp swords, and their desires were thwarted at the same time that their heads were removed from their respective bodies.

With the dirty work done, Joram went about the place looking for more loot. He wasn't disappointed. He soon found, at the back of the building, a large metal door that had several locks on it. He then stood there for a while and inspected the scene. He wasn't at all good with picking locks, and he wasn't about to try and back in a door that opened outwards…. Wait. It opened outwards. With a grin as wide as it ever had been, he went over to the hinges on the door and began pounding out the supporting bolts. Soon enough he had the bolts out and the door open.

There then came forth a mighty stench. Coughing somewhat, he entered the large room. Over to the right was the body of some unfortunate soul that had been trapped in the room when the door had closed. He was leaning against one of the walls, mostly slumped over. At least he thought it had been a 'he'; the clothes were made for a male at any rate. Looking over the rest of the room, he was sorely disappointed to find only a couple handfuls of gold, silver and copper strewn about the room. Every shelf and box had been emptied.

Joram shook his head again. That was becoming a habit. He then went over to the corps and looked it over. It was mostly decomposed now, only having some flesh here and there clinging to the bones. The hands were already mostly dried out as they lay to the sides of the body. Upon closer inspection of the right hand, he could see a patch of jet black cloth folded up. So he reached down and tugged it free murmuring an apology to the dead man. Even though a dead man had been holding it for who knows how long, the cloth still had a dark shimmer to it. Well, at least it looked pretty.

With that thought still going through his head, he left the vault and headed out to the street. This fires had gotten very close by this time, and the smoke was quite thick. Deciding not to explore and loot anymore, Joram quickly made his way to one of the rooftops nearby that had not yet caught fire.

Soon enough he was on his way out of town. He was confident that the town would burn to the ground given a day or two. That would, hopefully, get rid of a fair number of the undead host that had plagued the region. As he got to one of the gates he stopped. Wouldn't hurt to close them. That way maybe a few more zombies would burn to death, well, a proper death anyway.

Once on the ground he put his back into closing the gate. After straining for a while of fruitless straining, he thought it over. Maybe if he just dropped the portcullis instead of closing the gates…. So he went in search of the device that lowered the large iron grate. It wasn't hard to find, there only being two gate houses to chose from, and only one large enough to house the mechanism.

With a wary peek around the corner of the door, Joram went in and approached the crank. He studied it for a while, taking in the good work that had gone into making it. At length he just went up to the crank and pulled the latch that released the wheel. The wheel spun faster and faster as the portcullis dropped from above and slammed down hard. He was starting to feel rather pleased with himself. He was single handedly taking out a large portion of the remaining zombies and had killed the necromancer that had been responsible for the undead scourge.

Unfortunately, all the noise from the dropping and landing of the portcullis had attracted many unwanted visitors. _There's gotta be a couple hundred of the things approaching. Damn. Ah, well. Time to climb_. Joram thought to himself as he again took up climbing. Maybe he would try climbing the mountains to the east one of these days....

From atop the wall he had a great view of he burning city. It was only a couple hours past mid day, but it looked as though it were dusk already. It seemed fitting that night should fall on the city as it was finally allowed to die properly.

Time seemed to flow by for him in the next few months. He secretly went about putting zombies to final rest wherever he found them, making sure that none of the groups of soldiers found him. When he came across Cam's band he decided to follow it until they reached Belancourt. Once there he stayed around the east road waiting for Cam and the others to show up.

It was midwinter by the time Cam's group came along. The winters weren't too harsh in this region, so he didn't mind tarrying there for the two months it took for them to show up. In the time he had been out there, he had had some time to practice some of the skills found in the many volumes of knowledge he had pilfered from the library of Aries. One of the things he had practiced was woodworking and carpentry.

Given time to relax, somewhat, he was able to go through all the things he had pilfered from Aries. There were many forms of jewellery, gems, coins and other valuable items. He took out the black shimmering cloth that he found in that vault with the dead guy. It seemed to be folded up many times over. It really was beautiful, so he felt somewhat bad for having used it as a hanky a few times. When he unfolded it he found that it was not what it seemed. It was like some sort of hole that was filled almost to the top with gold, gems, and jewellery and fine pieces of art. He was totally flabbergasted. He had been using something like this to blow his nose on?! He would have to remember to ask Katreen about this thing the next time he spoke with her. He just hoped it wouldn't be too soon. With that though, he again stashed it in his boot top and continued on with his day.

During his down time, he had found a nice little place a day and a half away from the capital that suited his needs nicely. It was at the rocky side of a hill not too far away from the road. He was able to monitor the little traffic that went by on the road while working at improving his skills. By the time it came time to leave, Joram had built a small cabin and some furniture to fill the makeshift home.

He decided to follow the group for the rest of the day, making sure that they didn't notice him. It wasn't easy though. Some of them, namely Brom and Blake, had gotten really good at noticing the little things around them. He was sure that they hadn't seen him though.

By the time night fell, which was quite early these days, the small group had found a place to camp. It was in a cluster of pine trees that had managed to fend off most of the snow in their midst. It was a really nice spot actually. Out of the wind, and the trees would hide the light from their campfire really well.

A couple of sentries were set up while the others attended their horses and started to get some food cooking. While they were doing that, Joram prepared a sack full of treasure for his childhood friend. By the time food was being served Joram had finished his preparations. He would wait until Cam went on watch. Cam always liked second watch best. Joram didn't know why, but that was one watch Cam always volunteered for. He just hoped that he would take it this night.

Several hours passed while the band of friends chatted to times past and times to come. Several were planning on getting married as soon as they got back to their homes. Joram smiled wistfully at the thought. He hadn't thought those kinds of thoughts for months now. When the pang of sorrow hit, Joram remembered why he hadn't thought about it much. Thinking of marrying someone just to watch them grow old and die wasn't something that he wanted to think about. Especially when he thought of Monica. He wanted to remember her as being young and full of life.

That was why he had also been learning how to draw. He wanted to be able to see her beautiful face whenever he needed to. He was planning on going back to X'atur so that he could observe her and finally make a good drawing of her that someone could use as a template for a portrait.

At length he pulled himself out of his sad reverie and took note of the time. Second watch would start soon. So he got up to walk around for a while so that he could warm up his legs somewhat. They had gotten cold while he sat there thinking. Re-focusing, he used one of the jutsu he had learned long ago to warm himself up. It more or less involved using his chakra to warm his skin up. It was quite a useful technique to know.

Joram shook his head. Why was he letting his mind wander so much? He thought to himself as he went back to the area of his friend's camp. Once there it took him a while to spot Cam hiding under a pine near the edge of the ring of trees. Joram grinned to himself.

He was still grinning when he sat down beside Cam. Cam didn't seem to think that that was all that funny because suddenly Joram had a drawn bow aimed at his heart.

"Don't think that'll do much good my friend." Joram said, still grinning his cocky grin.

For his part, Cam just about fell over in shock. "You're still alive!" He whispered hoarsely, eyes bugging out.

"No." Joram got an evil idea. "I'm Joram's ghost that has been searching for you. You let me die...." He said, trying very hard not to laugh while trying to sound ghostlike. Well, what he thought a ghost should sound like anyway.

Cam let the arrow fall to the ground all the while giving Joram a horrified look. Then, all of a sudden, he whipped his bow around and clubbed Joram up side the head.

"Idiot! What are you doing here?" He asked while making sure his bow hadn't taken any undue damage from the clubbing.

"I thought to say good-bye properly this time." Joram said while rubbing his head. "I even brought you a good-bye present." He said while handing over the sack to Cam.

Puzzled, Cam reached into the bag and pulled out several pieces of jewellery. He gave Joram an incredulous look. "Where did you get these?"

"Well, I wanted to do some sightseeing while I burnt down Aries, and I found a few shops that still had a few things in them...." Joram trailed off as Cam just stared at him.

"You mean you looted the place?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't want it all to go to waste." Joram explained.

"Well done my friend!" Cam exclaimed, clapping a hand over his mouth. He quickly looked over at the camp to see if anyone had stirred. Safe.

"I mean, that was brilliant. I wish that I had had the chance."

"Don't. I got quite messy." Joram said while shaking his head. "Anyway, I wanted you to have some of the loot, and to make sure that Monica has enough to do her and her family."

"Wow, you became even more considerate!" Cam stated in mock astonishment.

"Funny. I also wanted you to give these to her as well." He said as he pulled the katana and wakasashi, he had made, from his shoulder satchel and handed them to his friend.

Cam took them silently. He spent a moment looking them over in the dim moonlight. "You know that Lord Dimitri has declared you dead."

"Yeah, I figured he would do something like that. Kenneth had warned me that he would want me dead, that's why I decided to disappear."

"Nice." Cam said, now his turn to shake his head. "Everyone back home will believe you dead as well."

"That isn't entirely a bad thing my friend." Joram said, now sounding more serious. "You can tell them what you like about how you got my swords. But make sure that Monica knows that I wanted her to have them."

"I don't think that I'll want any sharp objects around when I tell her though...." Cam said with some of his old humour.

"I'd guess not." Joram said with a quiet chuckle. "Well my friend. It is time that I head out again, this time permanently. You won't see me again."

"You just don't go getting yourself killed uselessly now, you hear?" Cam said.

"Can't do that. I'd lose points." Joram said with a quiet laugh. Cam just stared at him with an odd look in his eye. "Fare you well my friend." He said as he leaned close and gave his best friend one last bear hug.

"Have some adventures for me." Cam said as he watched his friend melt away into the night.

Joram spent the next several months working on his drawing when he wasn't either hunting or sleeping. He has gone back to Belancourt to acquire some sticks of charcoal that he had seen artists using, as well as some sticks of graphite. He also bought several hundred sheets of fine paper. The poor shop owner had thought that he was joking until he had dropped a small sack full of coins on the counter. He had been very obliging then.

So by the time planting season came around again, Joram deemed himself good enough to try and draw Monica. So after he packed his things and boarded the place up, Joram struck east along the road. He kept his cloak up and swords hidden. As far as he knew, he was the only one in the area to use those kinds of swords. He didn't want any complications to arise. Complications; like people thinking he had risen from the dead. That wouldn't be a good thing.

Eventually he found himself skirting the village of Anthus, taking note of how well they seemed to have rebuilt. He was happy for them. They deserved to have some peace and quiet after what had happened the year before. He even spotted a couple of the men that had been in his squad. One of them was with a very pregnant young lady. Joram smiled. At least one of them had attained their goal already.

Soon, though, he passed the last of the houses. He kept on going at a good pace so that he could reach is destination all the sooner. It wouldn't be long before he reached X'atur.

This first sign that he was close was the wood smoke he smelt in the air. He started to feel somewhat nostalgic. It wasn't anything special, just the thought of it being from home that made him feel that way. Soon he came into view of the houses, and that was his cue to get off the road. He _really_ didn't want anyone to see him. That would pose him no end of troubles.

So he made his way around the southern edges of the village that had once been home, all the while looking at the changes that had taken place. As with Anthus, the burnt down houses had been removed. Though only a few of them had started to be rebuilt, all in various stages of completion. Here one needed the windows and whitewash added, there one was still mostly bones, so to speak.

What really caught his attention was the large stone obelisk like thing in the middle of the village green. It was no more than eight or so feet tall, but it was about two and a half feet wide at its base, tapering off to about a foot at the top. It had four sides to it, and was resting on a wide base of stone. The whole thing looked as though it was made of black granite. Which was odd, since black granite was only found in the hills further east of here, and that was a day and a half away to boot. Deciding to try his luck, Joram performed a minor jutsu that made him look like someone else entirely.

With that done he proceeded to wonder into the village towards the obelisk.

There were a number of people around, all going about their daily lives. A few stopped briefly to look at the stranger for a moment before continuing along their way. When he got there he inspected the finely chiselled names that were to be found on the west side of the stone.

They were the names of all of the people who had died in the past year. He stood there for a time, remembering those who had fallen. He remembered when Kent down with an orcish sword in his gut. Kent had sobbed briefly for his mother. He remembered when Terry was taken down. He had been firing off arrows as fast as he could at the advancing orcs, but hadn't been fast enough to get behind the line of his friends before two spears had found his back.

Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. He read the other names to be found on the long list. There was the mayor Len, Sarah's husband. There were other names of people he hadn't even known very well, but he shed tears for them too. Then he was the name of his father. It wasn't even his full name. He couldn't blame them though, nobody except he had known it. With a quick look around to make sure nobody was paying too close attention, Joram concentrated some chakra into his index finger and a little beyond. He then proceeded to fill in the rest of his name. It wasn't in the same style as the rest of the name, but it was close enough.

With that done he heaved a sigh. Then he looked at the last name. It was his. They had even included his new title of 'Sir'. Guess he had made someone proud. He really didn't want to be remembered as a 'Sir', so he took his finger and wiped the stone clean of the title. He then marked the symbol of Katreen there in its stead. Shaking his head, and wiping away his tears, he turned to leave and walked full on into someone. Apologizing profusely he helped the woman up. It was Monica. She spent another moment gathering the fallen flowers, so she missed his shocked and stunned look.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to walk into you like that." She said as she stood up from picking up the rest of the flowers.

"Ah, that's ok. It was my fault for, ah, not looking where I was going, heh, heh...." Joram stammered.

"Sorry, but I don't recognise you. Are you from Anthus?"

"Oh, ah, yeah! I was just, ah, visiting the home of the local heroes is all, heh, heh." He said, laughing weakly, trying to diffuse his tension.

"Oh, I see." Monica said. This guy seemed somewhat familiar.

"Yeah, so, ah, I'll be going now. Have a good day!" He said as he ran off and turned around the side of a house where he promptly jumped up on the roof to avoid being followed by Monica.

"That was strange." Monica said to herself as she turned back to the memorial stone and placed the flowers she had gathered at its base. Noting a slight odour, she inspected the area around herself. Finding nothing that had burnt, she again turned to the obelisk. She read through the names again, as she always did when she came here. She smiled sadly when she came to her father's name. She read on and abruptly stopped when she came to Jirin's name. There, burnt right into the stone, was what looked like, the rest of his name.

She again turned around, this time to look for the stranger. But he was out of sight. Who was he? How had he known Jirin? How had he known Jirin's full name? She didn't know, nor anyone else in the area she had spoken to, his full name, and he had been like a second father to her. She again shook her head and turned, yet again, back to the tall stone in front of her. When she looked at the name there she just about had a fit.

That stranger had erased Joram's title and replaced it with some sort of odd symbol! She was going to throttle that man the next time she saw him! With that she stormed off back to her house.

Boy she looked angry. Joram observed as he watched Monica storm off after looking at the obelisk yet again. He would have to remember to change his disguise if he wandered back into town in the next few months.

With those thoughts in his head he hopped down from the roof and headed south. He would be able to find a suitable place to stay while he tarried for the next few months. So an hour later he had set himself up nicely beside yet another hill, between several large boulders. He then went about collecting pine and spruce branches to make the framework of his new roof. Once that task was completed, he went in search of reeds and long grassed that he would need to make this temporary shelter liveable for a few months.

It was the end of the day before he had gathered enough materials to do the job. So he spent the next several hours working with what he had to finish the job before it was time to sleep. He stopped then. He could have sworn he felt something. Sensed something. Looking around intently for several minutes, he finally spotted a fox making its way by.

It was getting very odd, getting these weird sensations whenever something went by. It was like he could feel it when something came near him. Almost like he could feel their life force. It was a very odd sensation. He would have to experiment more with this.

More time passed for him as he worked on his little shelter. He spent his time observing Monica and trying to capture her spirit on paper, and trying to get his sixth sense working more accurately. It was very hard, in both cases. On the one hand, he wasn't as good as he wanted to be at drawing; and on the other, it was hard to practice feeling where an animal was because it kept on moving. In both cases though, he kept up his hard work. He was never one to give up when the going got tough.

Then one day something happened. Cam had gone over to visit with Monica like he usually did a couple times a week. But this time he held her hand for most of their, albeit short, visit. His heart suddenly seemed to be as heavy as lead. He found it hard to breath properly. What was this sensation he was feeling? This feeling that hurt, and left him feeling empty?

Over the next two months Joram observed his best friend, and his best friend. He watched them slowly grow closer and closer to each other. After a while he could take it no longer. He was going to kill something.

Later that night, Joram appeared in a shadow in a clearing a day to the east of where his camp lay. The cave up ahead was where a clan of orcs resided. There was a frightening glow in Joram's eyes as he strode to the cave entrance.

Near dawn there was again movement at the cave mouth. A dark figure with blood smeared across its face, rips and tears crisscrossing its clothes, emerged. It held a long, slender, curving sword that was still sticky with the blood of many victims.

Joram made his way to the stream near by, walking as though in a daze. Once he got there he dropped onto his knees in the shallow stream, bowed his head, and began to cry. He was there well past dawn, crying silent tears. He had heard the curses of the males, and the pleas of the females and children. He hadn't heeded their pleas though. He had slaughtered them all, male, female, and childling.

He looked up at the clear blue sky above his head and wondered what kind of person he had become? Sure, they were monsters, and they would have gladly killed him had they had a chance; but that was what they were. They were what they were. Was he now something like them? Something that killed indiscriminately, not caring who or what died, just so long as his bloodlust was sated?

He shook his head and sadly, then plunged it into the refreshing stream. No. He wasn't like that. He had to get over this misplaced sense of betrayal and loss. Hadn't he been the one to leave Monica? Hadn't he been the one to leave Cam and the others? Hadn't it been he that had requested that Cam take the tale of his death back to X'atur for the others to hear? Hadn't he wanted them to be happy? So who was he to argue that they had come together? It kind of made sense. Both had experienced loss, and both probably needed a friend. Wouldn't it be natural that something form between the two? Again, who was he to argue?

With those thoughts in mind, and the depression and hurt still surrounding him, he decided to release it. So he focused all his feelings of hurt, betrayal, anger, loss, and emptiness into his hands and threw the angry, swirling, black, red and green ball of energy at the closest boulder. The poor boulder was so thoroughly blown up that there wasn't anything larger than his hand that remained.

Wow. He would have to remember how he had done that. He felt much better, and without those negative feelings blocking his judgement and well being, he heaved a sigh of relief. He could now face another day. Maybe two if he didn't go near Monica and Cam for the next little while. He still needed time to accept things, though he was confident that he wouldn't go on another killing spree any time soon.

Looking down at himself, he finally was able to see what a mess he looked. This would take some time to clean. With a sigh, he stripped down, washed his clothes, and laid them out in the sun to dry as he enjoyed sitting in a deeper pool of water. It wasn't too cold, and was starting to warm up again as the sun went higher and higher into the sky.

Now that he had calmed down, he was quite tired. He made his way over to where his clothing lay and let the warm sun dry him off. He must have dozed off while leaning against a boulder because when he again opened his eyes, the sun was on the other side of the sky. Well, at least he was dry now. Upon inspection, he found that his clothes were dry too. That was good, because he hated wearing wet clothes. They bunched up in all the wrong places.

So it was that Joram made his way home that night, feeling much better with himself. Well, regarding the issue with Monica and Cam anyway. He still felt kinda bad for wiping out an entire clan of orcs. He tried justifying it by telling himself that it was good in the long run, that they would have attacked other innocent people. It didn't help much.

The following evening he was again practicing his drawing skills in the shelter of his little home. It was a little odd trying to draw at night, but he just kept on going. He could see really well in the moonlight after all. So why stop just because it got dark outside?

By the time harvest came Joram had several prospective sketches that could be used for a portrait. He had gotten rather good at drawing. He had practiced on everything in sight, the birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, a bear or two, and of course the people of X'atur. Especially Monica. He had even done a few of both Cam and Monica. It helped him to work through things as he tried to draw them together, both being happy. It wasn't easy at first, but he grew to understand and accept they way things had turned out. He was even silently praying for their happiness. When he found out that the couple were going to get married in a week's time, he came up with a plan.

Four days later an artist came into town trying to sell sketches of various people and landscapes. He soon became a hit among the people of the small town. The young girls thought that the tall blonde man was quite dashing. How romantic was it that he could draw people and capture their look of happiness on paper? So very romantic.

Joram really tried hard not to get cornered by one of the young women of the village. It was awkward being there, but he wanted to do this one last thing for his friends. He knew that he had made promise after promise not to return, but he couldn't help himself.

So Monica came up to him one day and asked that he could draw both her and Cam on the day of their wedding. He gladly accepted, refusing all attempts at payment. He said that capturing such a beautiful love on paper was payment enough for him. That was enough to silence Monica's protests, and for that he was glad. Unfortunately, a couple of the young girls overheard the conversation and his reputation as the most romantic guy in town multiplied tenfold. He was hard pressed to avoid being alone when he was anywhere near one of the young girls. It seems wedding fever had struck, and they all wanted to be beautiful brides themselves.

The day of the wedding came. Joram found himself watching the ceremony with a tear in his eye. Not because he was angry that they were getting married, nor because he was sad to see his onetime love move on, but because he was so happy for them. When the ceremony was done he was invited over to his old house, their house, and was asked if he could start the portrait.

As he was setting up he noticed that there were two swords set on the mantle of the fireplace. He grinned. Those were his old swords. "Wow, these are really neat." Joram said as he stood by the swords.

"They are rather unique aren't they?" Cam said as he came over.

"I've only ever seen the like once before" Joram said feigning awe.

"Really? Where?" Monica said, now very interested in the story.

"Oh, it must have been last summer...." he said as though trying to remember. "I think that I might still have a drawing of the young man here some somewhere...." he said as he rooted through his large carrying case.

Neither Cam nor Monica dared say anything. He might have a portrait that they could put up with the swords.

After several minutes of searching, Joram, now known as Dante, pulled out sheet of heavy paper with a look of triumph on his face. "Found it!"

"Let me see!" Monica said as she reached for the coveted paper.

"I don't know," he said as he dodged around her grabs, "It's not very good you see. I was only able to get a quick look at him before he walked off."

With a quick feignt left, then a grab to the right she managed to grab the drawing. Joram sighed and gave up, now regretting having spoken up.

"Wow.... It's wonderful." Monica said in awe. Cam came over and took a look.

"It's very nice. You must be very talented to have drawn this from just a short look." Cam said, obviously impressed at Dante's skill level.

"Well, I did see him in the market a few times." Joram explained nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, we should get started before it gets much later. As is, I will have to come back tomorrow to finish it off." Monica nodded as she placed the drawing on the mantle and headed over to her chair to continue her modeling.

So the afternoon passed with him both drawing and chatting. The drawing was coming along nicely by the time he had to leave in the early evening. It would only take another couple hours to finish. He was genuinely smiling when he left. He could tell that they would be a good couple. Not that he had much experience in that area, he just had one of those feelings.

There were still people walking around the village, for it was only early evening. He wandered over to the inn to have a bit of a drink before heading off again.

The next day Joram found that he shouldn't have drank so much. His head was somewhat swollen; well, felt swollen anyway. It seemed like his head would pop if he turned around too fast. So he spent the next half hour concentrating enough to be able to heal his headache away with a healing jutsu. With that done, he got himself dressed, used his disguise jutsu, and headed out.

Even though the hangover had been healed, he still had to squint when he left his little shelter. It took him an hour and a half to get back to town this time. Man, drinking too much was definitely a bad thing. The pain alone was enough of a detourant not to do it again.

He stopped by the inn at about mid-morning to get something to eat. Maybe that would help. He felt so drained for some reason. He decided it must have been the drinking. He had never really gotten drunk before, so that must have been it. Sarah came over and served him some leftovers from breakfast along with some water. With how hungry he was, the food had only survived for three minutes.

With a good meal in his belly he was feeling much better. So he paid up and headed out to see if Monica and Cam wanted to finish the portrait that day. It didn't take him long to head over and knock at the door. He seemed to have regained some of his energy from that tasty meal. Even though it was leftovers, it was still way better than what he could make. It was good to eat Sarah's cooking again.

Monica answered the door and invited him in with a warm smile. It seems as though she had been up for a while. _Well, she did always get up before me_. Joram thought to himself as he again started to work on the portrait.

After another couple of hours he was done. With a big smile he showed it to them.

"Wow! That is absolutely amazing!" Monica said as she beheld the portrait.

"I must say that I have never seen anything like it Dante." Cam said with wonder painted on his face. It looked just like them. He had even managed to catch that special look in Monica's eyes that made her so beautiful.

"How much do we owe you?" Monica asked, still somewhat distracted by the image.

"Oh… nothing. Just think of it as a wedding gift to a beautiful couple." Joram said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

"Surely there is something we can do for you." Cam said, now somewhat embarrassed accepting this wonderful gift.

"Well…." Joram, Dante, drawled. "You can promise to always be there for one another."

The newlyweds just stared at him blankly.

"I mean, this portrait will go to waste if ever you break up, now won't it?"

"You don't have to worry about us." Cam said, now bursting with confidence.

Monica was giving him an odd look. One of those looks that she gave a puzzle she couldn't figure out.

"So, uh, I'll just take that and put the finishing touched on it and I'll be back tomorrow." Joram said, getting more and more nervous the longer Monica regarded him.

"Sure. No problem. There's no need to hurry, we'll be here." Cam said as Joram/Dante put the portrait away carefully into his pack and headed for the door.

"Have we ever met before?" Monica suddenly asked as he was halfway out the door.

"Have you ever been to Belancourt?"

"No."

"Well, ah, this is the first time I've been here, so you must be mistaken. You might have just met someone who looks like me, heh, heh…." He said and left as quickly as he could.

"What was that about?" Cam asked his beautiful wife.

"I could swear we have met before." She said then suddenly shook her head. "Anyway, I guess he must be right. How could I have ever met him before?"

For the rest of that day and throughout the night, Joram painstakingly copied the portrait. By the time it was done the sun was peeking over the horizon. Face smudged with charcoal, hair hanging down, and eyes bleary, he made his way over to another corner of his workshop. Here, he had prepared a frame and had even bought a very fine pane of glass for this project. He spent the next hour assembling, setting, and finishing the frame.

In a word, it was beautiful. He had even managed to do a couple of touch-ups like he had promised he would do. He then picked up a leather script and placed the portrait and frame inside. With that done he proceeded to, once again, pack up his belongings so that he could leave the region once he delivered the parcel.

It was noon by the time Joram found himself, once again in the guise of Dante, knocking on the door of his old house. This time it was Cam who opened the door to greet him. Or would have, if Joram had been there. A split second before the door opened, Joram leapt straight up and landed lightly on the roof. So all that Cam found was the leather script on the front step.

Curious, Cam stepped out to see if he could find Dante, but to no avail. Shrugging, he picked up the leather folder/case thingy and went inside. Joram moved to the side of the house that had the window to the living room and looked through, up side down.

Cam met Monica there as he was taking the portrait and frame out of the script. She gasped at what she saw. I was beautiful. The frame was made from a light oak with a bees wax finish, making the vine carvings along the frame almost glow in the light that came through the window Joram was at. She then proceeded to take it to the mantle and stand it up in front of the swords. Joram also noticed that she had placed the sketch of himself with the swords. That made him smile somewhat. With that he took his leave.

The night was moonless, nevertheless there was enough light to see by from the multitude of stars shining down from above. The light shone down on a lone castle that stood in the middle of a small lake. The castle had many towers behind its tall and dark walls, but only one held any light in it this night.

Outside one of the windows that was alight that night, there stood a dark figure. From what could be seen of the figure, it looked like a human. The shoulders were too broad to be an elf, too tall to be a halfling or dwarf, and too well dressed to be an orc or some such. It had one slightly curved sword on its back, the hilt sticking up over its right shoulder, and another shorter one that was at the small of its back, angled so that the hilt was just above the left kidney.

The figure wore all black and had a black cloth covering his face below his eyes, for it was definitely not a girl that stood there. Not saying that a girl wouldn't look good in that outfit, but the person was missing the curves that would identify it as a girl. He was also sporting a rather unique diadem.

Joram stood by the window watching the foul wizard that had been kidnapping the townsfolk for his petty experiments. As he watched, the wizard in dark blue robes took another vial of silvery black powder and poured it in intricate designs on the floor. Was the wizard making some sort of portal?

It didn't matter though, because it looked like he planned on sacrificing all those people in that cell in the corner. There was already one dead person in the corner by the time he had gotten all the way up here. It looked as though the wizard had used the person's blood as one of the reagents for his spell, for there was blood all over the table that the wizard kept on going back to to get one component or another.

Joram couldn't wait any longer. Even after all these years, he couldn't stay calm when he knew that others were in danger. As silent as death, Joram made his way through the window. Unfortunately, the wizard must have put an alarm spell around the room, for as his foot touched the ground a loud chirping noise started to go off.

Not waiting for the wizard to notice him standing there, Joram started to run to the wizard to finish him off. Unfortunately the wizard reacted faster than he thought. He pulled a wand from his robes and shouted a word of command. A lightning bolt as thick as his leg shot out and hit him in the chest, flinging him out the window he had just come through. He really had to stop underestimating the reaction time of his foes. It kept on getting him killed.

Joram fell the hundred feet or so to the courtyard below and landed with a crunch/splat sound. Katreen was standing there beside the unfortunate warrior shaking her head. With a wave of her hand Joram seemed to flow back into his proper proportions. He blinked.

"That wasn't a good one, was it?" Joram asked with a bit of shame in his voice.

"Not at all."

"Don't I get any points for a perfect landing?"

"Nope."

"How many did I lose?"

"Thirty."

Joram seemed to deflate at that. "That's gonna take me another fifty years to get back…." He sighed to himself.

"At least." Katreen said with a mischievous smile. "You might want to consider coming over to work on a... make up… project to get some points back." She said as she ran a finger along his strong jaw.

"Ah, that's ok. I'll just have to make it up tonight by slaying that foul wizard!" He said as he struck a heroic pose.

Katreen just laughed. That's why she liked him so much. He always made her laugh. "You just take care of yourself. Even though I like to see you and visit with you, I do have other matters that need attending to." She said as she faded from sight.

"What a lady." Joram said to himself as he picked himself up out of the indentation that he had made in the courtyard.

"I hope this works." Joram said to himself as he bit his thumb, smeared the blood across his palm, and started to perform a series of hand seals at lightning speed.

He had spent the past fifty years trying to get this technique. Actually, he had learned the technique quickly, but had spent those years searching for the one whom he would make a contract with. So after fifty years, many deaths, pleading, fighting and just plain stubbornness, he was able to find and make a contract with that most rare dragon. The platinum dragon. The progenitor of the goodly dragons.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He yelled, pointing his open palm at the ground. There was a sudden explosion of dust and fog right below him that extended out from under him at a rapid rate. Soon he was being lifted into the air at an alarming speed. Soon he was a good thirty feet off the ground and standing on the head of a huge dragon. Said dragon's head just so happened to be laying on its own back as it was curled up in a foetal position for sleep. It woke up.

"What am I doing here?" It asked. When it spoke there was a deep rumble that rattled Joram's teeth.

"I need your help!" Joram said from on top of its head.

"Oh, it's you." The dragon said in a bored tone of voice. "Can't you see I'm sleeping?"

Joram was dumbstruck. He didn't know what to say to that.

"You could have at least called someone else. I mean, what do you need me for anyway?" The dragon continued to berate Joram.

"I don't know how to summon anyone else!" He finally said in exasperation.

Joram proceeded to get his first lesson in summoning since he had visited Konoha fifty years previous. At least he now knew how to summon other kinds of goodly dragons. It only took a few minutes, mainly of telling him to add this seal or that seal to the combination to get another type of dragon.

"As interesting as all this is, I really need your help to get back to the top of that tower to fight that crazy wizard."

Joram suddenly felt very afraid for some reason.

"You mean you summoned me here just to help you get to the top of a tower?" This question was asked in a very soft and angry voice.

"Yes-No-no-no-no-no!" Joram spluttered trying to explain. "The wizard up there is very powerful and I need you to take care of him while I save the people he is going to sacrifice!"

"Why didn't you say that people were in danger boy? Hold on!" He bellowed as he uncurled faster that his bulk would suggest he could, and leapt into the sky. Joram was flattened against the dragon's head as gravity seemed to suddenly multiply under his feet. Then he was weightless as the dragon suddenly stopped moving upwards. He hung in the air for a second before he was head-butted through one of the tower windows. He landed next to the cage that had held the people just as the wizard hurried to the window to see what had made all that noise.

Joram stood up as he shook the fog from his head. He had hit it pretty good when he had landed. His eyes cleared up enough to see that the wizard had already gathered all the remaining people together in the central circle of power. There was some sort of energy barrier keeping the terrified people from fleeing.

Damn it! He didn't know enough about magic yet to know how to counteract the barrier's magic.

The wizard let off a lightning bolt at the dragon then ran back to the center of the room where he saw Joram waiting for him.

"It's too late you fool!" He cried as he aimed the wand at the floor and spoke the work of power to release the powerful bolt at the complex circles of power drawn on the floor in many different shades of powders. The people in the central circle screamed like nothing he had ever heard before. Then they exploded/vaporized into a blood red mist. A gate or portal of some sort immediately began to form while the wizard laughed maniacally.

Joram didn't want to see this most unholy portal fully develop, nor did he want to know where led to, so he began for form the necessary hand seals that (they would normally open his own portal), he hoped, would be able to close this portal. As he worked to mould the huge amounts of chakra needed he saw the wizard being pulled from the tower by one of the dragons' paws. He grinned at that, but it didn't last long. He began to feel as though he had done something terribly wrong.

With that feeling now fully developed, the portal began to hum in a rather disturbing manner. What's more, it started to suck everything into itself. Before he could even think to grab onto something, he was pulled inside the portal. It felt as though every nerve ending had, all at once, frozen, burned, torn, and blown up. The worst thing was, he didn't fall unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was a nice sunny day, the birds were singing, the clouds were large and white and puffy, and the grass was very green. All in all a beautiful day to lay beside a pond and stream.

Joram lay there enjoying the day. Then something occurred to him. Where the hell was he?! He sat up then and looked around. Seeing the narrow gravel paths and the small creek he assumed he was in someone's private gardens. But he didn't recognize the trees or the shrubs.

But he did recognize the huge green monster that was now emerging from the pond. It was a massive crocodile. While sitting there is shock something odd caught his eye. It had a collar around it's neck that said: Mr. Green Turtle.

People sure had odd tastes in pets, Joram thought to himself as rolled back and did a reverse hand spring to get himself away from the hungry pet.

It's owner must be feeding it well for it must have been at least twenty feet long. It would have hurt way too much to play with it, so Joram just took off in the opposite direction.

He ran for a couple of minutes before Mr. Green Turtle finally gave up chasing the snack. He would eat it when it got caught in one of the traps around the grounds. With that he went back to relaxing in his pool.

Joram sighed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to have to hurt someone's pet even though it was trying to eat him. It would have been impolite. Also, he was kind of trespassing....

Looking around for a minute, Joram finally found what looked like the outer wall of the compound. With a grin, that was hidden by the cloth over the lower half of his face, he started to make his way to freedom.

Let it be known that although Joram was trained by the best ninja, he was terrible at finding traps.

So it was that he narrowly missed being blown up, impaled, flattened, electrocuted, dropped into a bottomless pit, and burnt to a crisp. This was worse than any dungeon that he had ever been in, and it was outside! How were they able to hide so many traps?!

It was then that the ruler of the estate came out. He was a young man of about sixteen to seventeen years. He was wearing this weird outfit, like an overly large tunic, and wide baggy pants that were brought in at the waist by a sash of some sort. All in all, he looked odd.

"How dare you trespass on the most sacred grounds of the Kuno clan! Feel privileged that I, one who is so great, the Blue Thunder Furinken High, shall be the one to smite thee!" He said as he struck a pose with his wooden sword raised high. Coincidentally lightning flashed in the background. The odd thing was, it was still sunny outside.

"Uh...." Was all Joram could think to say to that before this Kuno guy attacked him.

Kuno opened with a series of lightning fast thrusts that would have left Joram looking like a sponge. Kuno grinned to himself. This was going to be all too easy.

Joram on the other hand had other ideas about being stuck full of holes. So he jumped high into the air to avoid the dozens of thrusts. This guy must be good to be able to launch so many attacks at once. Joram thought to himself as he landed a safe distance away. He didn't want to use his sword against the guy, he was, after all, only using a stick.

Simple solution. Summon fog and run away. That Kuno guy didn't seem to like his idea, for as he ran for the wall he could hear him cursing "the foul sorcerer" and his evil tricks.

With a sigh he landed on the other side of the wall. He then noticed the other oddities of this place he found himself in.

There was, what looked like, some sort of coach. It didn't have any wheels and was made of metal. It had glass windows and was painted pink. Eww. He watched as someone opened one of the doors and sat down inside. Soon the thing roared to life started to move on it's own. Now that really caught his attention.

How was it able to move on it's own? Ooh, he would just love to take that thing apart and see how it moved. He had loved his time amongst the tinker gnomes. They had made such cool stuff! It was also fortunate that he couldn't die, because he couldn't count the times that he had been blown up, squished, etc. while helping them work out the bugs in their inventions during his stay there. But he had left them with a great appreciation for machines and other odd mechanical things.

He started to follow after the odd pink thing, but stopped short when another one of those things skidded to a stop only a foot or so away from him, all the while some sort of loud trumpet blaring at him.

The person in the odd vehicle made the widow somehow lower and leaned out to yell at him. He didn't know what some of those words meant, but he assumed they weren't something you would say with a parent around to hear you.

He quickly stepped back, raising his hands in apology. The person made the glass go back into place and sped off down the street. Now that he looked closer, the streets were paved with some sort of black substance, and there were white and yellow lines painted on it. Very strange place he found himself in. Very strange indeed.

He proceeded to wander around for the next few hours, wondering where in the planes he was. There were many tall poles sticking out of the ground along the side of the road with what looked like wires or cables running from pole to pole.

The people were the strangest part of the experience. They all wore very odd clothing. One girl was wearing a very short dress, while another was wearing pants. That one girl was showing more leg than he had ever seen outside of the slums where the cheap whores sold their services. This was quite shocking for our young (the term being relative) hero.

He eventually wandered into what he assumed was a shopping district. There were many people in odd clothing and even more bizarre colours. Who would want to wear that much orange? Then there was the hair. He didn't even want to know what inspired some of those haircuts. He had know several dwarven battle ragers that had had more tame hair styles. He shuddered.

In one of the display windows he saw some sort of scrying device for sale. It came in several different sizes, though most were fairly rectangular is shape. They must not have been very good for they only showed the people walking by on the sidewalk. He continued on. He could at least get an image from several hundred miles away.

People must have thought he was dressed in an unusual manner, because many people stared at him as he walked by. No accounting for taste I guess, Joram thought to himself.

Several blocks passed by as he slowly wandered around. After catching a whiff of something that smelled just heavenly, he realized that he was starving. He hadn't eaten anything since before he had attacked that wizard.

He made his way over to the place that was emitting those wonderful aromas. He watched as several young women asked the guy behind the counter for some of the food in the display case. He recognized one of the things in the case to be an apple pie. So this place must be a sweets bakery. The girls then gave the man some coloured paper and coins to pay for the food.

He wondered where he could acquire some of that money. Maybe there was a money changer around here somewhere....

So he went up to the vendor and asked: "Excuse me sir, but-" He had to cut off because the man's eyes just about bugged out at the sight of the large man in the ninja get-up, and started to blabber.

Then Joram remembered something very important. You take your mask off when you are speaking with someone. Especially at market. Pulling the strip of fabric down from his face, Joram tried again.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that sir. Forgot where I was, heh, heh...." Joram said as he scratched the back of his head with his left hand. The man didn't respond, but he did stop stammering. That was a good start.

"You see, I need to find a money changer or perhaps a bank. Could you tell me where one is?" He said with his most innocent smile. It seemed to work. The man relaxed somewhat, realizing that this large man with swords standing in front of him wasn't going to rob him.

"Are you with some travelling entertainers or something? No, don't answer. To get to the bank just go down to the end of the street and turn right. It's just another two blocks after that."

"Thank you good sir." Joram said with a small bow and headed off in the direction the man pointed in. It was sure nice that, wherever this was, they spoke the same language. He didn't have any idea what all those characters meant though.... He'd have to learn to read it some day.

Joram turned right at the end of the street. Two more blocks. Man was this city strange. They put the lamps so high up on the posts that he had to wonder how they expected to light them every evening. And those carriage like things. What was with those things? Had they replaced horses with those things? He hadn't seen one horse since he arrived in this strange land. Everybody walked or travelled in one form or another of those carriages. He wondered if he could get his hands on one of those.

Now getting to the end of the second block. Where was it anyway? He stopped one of the passers-by and asked. It just so happened to be a young lady.

"Uh, it's right there." She said, pointing at the building right beside him.

"Ah, thanks. It's just that I'm not from around here you see...." He said with an embarrassed smile. The girl for some reason blushed and hurried off. Ah, well.

It didn't look like a building a money changer would set up shop in. For one thing, the whole front of the building was made of glass. Any self respecting thief would be able to get in there easily. Secondly, it was small. Money changers always had large buildings to show how well off they were. This building was only one story tall. Well, the vendor and that nice girl seemed to think it a bank, so he went in.

Immediately upon entering the building a man in some sort of uniform came up to him, one hand resting on something at his waist.

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave your swords here sir." He said, trying very hard to sound confident. He wasn't paid all that much, and he couldn't afford to get hurt on the job; his wife would kill him.

Joram regarded the shorter man briefly, considering whether he should let him take his swords. After a moment he shrugged, unclipped his swords, and handed them to the man in the uniform. Said man seemed to droop with relief.

"You may have them back once you leave." The security officer said.

"Sure." Was all Joram said about that. "Say, do you know which person to talk to to exchange money?"

"Yes. That would be counter four right over there." The security guy said as he pointed to the corner off to the left.

"Thanks." Joram said as he headed off. People are so nice here. Joram thought to himself as he stood by the desk waiting to be noticed by the lady who was chatting with a co-worker. The lady's friend finally noticed him standing there and nudged her friend while giving her a wink.

The teller turned around to see Joram standing there looking bored. She took in his black soft leather boots, the dark metal shin guards, his black pants that were, coincidentally enough, very similar to military cargo pants, the shoulder satchel and belts on his hip and shoulders, the bracers that looked like they were made of the same metal as the shin guards, his very broad chest, and finally his face. He hadn't shaved in a day or so now, so he had a dark shadow of a beard. His raven black hair was somewhat dishevelled while still up in the high ponytail, but that only added to his rugged good looks. His eyes were the dark blue of the sky that pushes the sun the rest of the way down after a nice sunset. Then there was the diadem that he wore, the dark jewel in the center piece glittering darkly.

"Hello. May I help you?" She asked blushing faintly. He looked very strong too.

"Ah, yes." Joram said nervously as he noticed both her stare and her co-workers' stare. "I need to exchange some money." Joram said once the teller lady motioned him to sit.

"What kind of money would you like to exchange today?"

"Oh, just a few gold coins." Joram said as he pulled out ten coins from a hidden belt pouch and dropped them on the desk. The poor teller just about fell out of her chair.

"This will take a little while to do." She said weakly. She couldn't believe that someone would want to exchange gold at her bank.

"I don't mind waiting." Joram said. "It's not like I have much to do today anyway." He said with a wry grin.

"Yes, well. Would you mind coming back in three hours Mr.-" she cut off, now realizing that she hadn't even introduced herself.

"Joram." He provided with a grin and proffered a hand to shake.

"Uzuha Asuza." She said as she took his hand. My was it large.

"Then I'll be back in three hours then." Joram said as he stood up. "I'll just leave those with you if you don't mind."

"No, not at all. We'll take good care of them for you." What a stupid thing to say!

"Yeah, sure. See you later." With that said Joram turned and headed back to the security guard like guy.

"You get done what you needed to get done?" The security guy asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back in about three hours or so. Will you still be here?" Joram asked as he clipped his swords back on.

"Oh, I'm here until closing. See you later then."

"See you in a bit then." Joram said simply as he headed out the doors.

Standing out front Joram was rudely reminded by his stomach that he hadn't eaten in a long time. With yet another sigh Joram headed across the street to sit in the peaceful looking park. He really hoped that nobody had any pets like Mr. Green Turtle there. Once in a day was enough for him.

After a few minutes of looking around, Joram found a nice bench near the koi pond. Boy it was a nice day. It was still only just after noon. He had a lot of things to think about. For one; where the hell was he?! It didn't even feel like home. It was so... static. Like creativity had been drained from the world. He hadn't even once seen someone use magic the whole time he was here. Well, maybe those doors opening on their own.... But nothing like he was used to when walking through one of the major cities back home. Here, it almost felt.... Dead.

The afternoon wore on as Joram sat there contemplating his fate. He didn't even notice all the people who stopped a moment to stare at the oddity in their midst. He did notice though when a large clay golem like creature came stomping through the koi pond grabbing people along the way and draining them of their chakra.

And here I thought this place was going to be boring. Joram thought to himself as he again raised the strip of cloth over the lower half of his face and drew his katana. The monster was yelling some sort of gibberish as it grabbed at people. He wondered if he could cleave this thing in half? It looked solid enough....

So he took a running start and jumped high into the air, a good twenty five feet in the air, and came down hard on the monster's head. Yup, he had cloven it all right. He landed in front of the monster as its two halves fell away from each other. There was a sudden spark, then a massive explosion that sent him flying out of the park and right back into the bank through the window beside security guard guy.

Joram lay there on his back, smoking, for a bit, contemplating what had just happened. He had had enough time to cross his arms over his face before the golem blew up, then he was here. The explosion seemed to be caused by the "death" of the golem. But why would someone set a golem to explode once it was disabled? Silly question. Why wouldn't someone set their golem to explode once disabled? If it couldn't get your enemy while in one piece, why not try getting him when it was in hundreds of pieces?

His contemplations were interrupted by the security guy checking his pulse. Guess not many people enter a building like that in this city.

"Are you all right mister?" Security guy asked seeming very worried.

"Yeah. Been through worse." Joram said as he finally decided to sit up and re-sheath his katana. "Boy was that annoying. You get many exploding golems walking through the city?"

"Exploding golems? You mean the youma? Usually the Sailor Senshi take care of them. Don't remember hearing that they explode though." He said, now sounding thoughtful.

"Ah, well. Say Mr, do you know what time it is?"

"Oh, about three forty-five." He said as he checked his wrist. Joram leaned over to see what he was looking at.

"Wow! They make clocks that small now?" Joram said excitedly.

"Uh, yeah. They've been this small for quite some time now."

"You'll have to show me where to get one of those when I get my money." Joram said happily, already feeling better. "I'll go ask Uzuha Asuza if she has my money yet." Joram then got up, apparently none the worse for wear for having been flung across the park and through a window. He noticed that all of the employees and customers were staring at him as though he were some sort of... weird thing. Mentally shrugging, Joram made his way over to desk number four.

"Say, uh, I can't remember what time it was when I left here earlier. Has it been three hours yet?" Joram asked the pretty teller lady.

"...."

"Hello?" Joram said as he waved his hand in front of Asuza, trying to get her attention. She seemed to come back from wherever she had been and apologized profusely. How can he be standing after having been flung through a window? Is he one of those crazy martial artists from Nerima she kept on hearing about? That would explain the clothing....

"Ah! I'm so sorry! Yes. Your money is ready. With the service fee deducted you will be getting nine hundred and thirty three thousand yen. Please sign here, here, here, and here." She said while marking the places he needed to sign. Joram shrugged. Not like they were going to be able to read his signature. "Here is a complimentary bag to carry your money in." She said as she gave him a cheap sports bag with the bank's logo on it.

"Thanks. Do you think this will be enough to find a place to stay for a while?" Joram asked as he inspected the pile of money on the desk.

"Oh, you shouldn't have a problem finding somewhere to stay with that much money." Asuza assured him. Heck, he could stay with me with that kind of money. She blushed.

"Ok, thanks." Joram said as he quickly stacked the money into the bag.

"If you don't mind me asking? Where did you get those gold coins from?" She asked somewhat hesitantly.

"That's the change from my last job. It didn't pay too good, but hey I needed the money."

If Joram had been able to recognize the yen money symbol he might of said something when her eyes lit up and turned into big golden yen symbols. As is, he just shrugged and headed off.

Once out of the bank, using the doors, he remembered that there had been other people near the explosion. Hurriedly he put the bag of money into his shoulder satchel and sprinted to the park to see if anyone was seriously hurt. It had only been a few minutes since he had flown through the window, so he hoped that no one was in too much pain.

When he got there he noticed some really unusually dressed girls looking over the area where he had destroyed the golem. They were wearing really short skirts, white body suites, and they even had bows on their respective outfits. Each also had a different coloured skirt. Maybe they were supposed to be the local town watch or something.

Looking down at himself he realized that his outfit was somewhat singed around the edges. With a sigh, he pulled out one of his cloaks and put it on to hide most of the damage, then quickly put his hair back into a proper pony tail and stepped out from the tress.

The one in the very red skirt noticed him first. The one with the odd pig tails ignored him, chosing instead to continue her ministrations on the unconscious person in front of her. A couple other people looked like they were injured, but nothing looked serious. He again turned his attention back to the black haired girl. She was now glaring at him for some reason. Oh. She had just asked him a question.

"Ah, sorry. What did you say?" Joram asked with his best smile, feeling somewhat embarrassed at having ignored the girl. The tall brunette in the green skirt and the blonde in the orange skirt went all starry eyed. What was with people and the weird eyes in this place?

"I asked you who you are." Red skirt asked tersely. Guess she didn't like his smile.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that. My name is Joram. Who might you be miss?" He asked courteously.

Red skirt coloured a wee bit at that. What did he say?

"Never mind that. What are you doing here, and why were you hiding over there?"

"Well, I thought to come back to make sure that nobody was seriously hurt. I mean, man!, that was a huge explosion!" He said with a grin.

"Were you the one responsible for the explosion?" Red skirt asked. She seemed ready to attack if he said the wrong thing.

"Well. That's a good question. I was responsible for it exploding, but-" He was cut off by her yelling something about fire. He then had to dodge some sort of weird fire attack, or risk being burnt to a crisp.

"What was that for?!" Joram yelled at the crazy fire wielding girl.

"Parks are for the enjoyment of all who come here, and for recklessly endangering the people therein we will punish you!" Red skirt must have a thing for speeches or something. The pig tailed blonde near the back of the group started to pout.

"I'm the one who's supposed to say that...." He heard her pout.

"What are you talking about you floozy? I took out this rampaging golem and you try and kill me for it? How is that fair?" He was starting to get angry at this scantily dressed little girl.

It was the wrong thing to say. Red skirt was suddenly surrounded by a fiery red aura. She was clenching her teen, right fist shaking, and there even a vein throbbing at her temple. If that wasn't enough, she seemed to grow twice at tall and her eyes started to glow a bright red. It seemed to be some sort of intimidation jutsu, for he felt mass amounts of chakra flowing off her.

"Floozy?" She growled at him.

For the first time in a very long time, Joram felt concern for his well being. Especially when he noticed the other scantily clad girls backing off from their friend. Any civilians that had stuck around for the show turned tail and ran for safety. He turned back to her in time to see her say:

"Fire Soul Revised!"

He had once seen an ancient red dragon breath it's breath weapon on a small army. This reminded him of that. Not wanting to experience that kind of pain first hand, Joram first activated a fire shield, then jumped as far to the side as he could. Even then, it hurt a lot.

"Sailor Mars! How could you vaporized such a cute guy!" Blonde pig tailed girl wailed.

"I'm more worried that you might have killed an innocent person." Blue skirt said as she approached Sailor Mars.

"How could he not be evil? I mean, he called me a floozy and admitted to being responsible for the explosion." She said defensively.

"While scanning point zero of the explosion, I found that it was caused by an internal reaction. He didn't blow up the youma, it blew itself up." Blue skirt explained.

"...."

"Yeah, what she said!" Joram yelled from one of the koi ponds. He was now dripping wet but still managed to strike an imposing figure.

"How did you survive that?!" Sailor Mars choked, eyes bugging out.

"You honestly didn't expect me to just stand there did you?" Joram mocked. "I mean, would you just stand there and let me slice you to ribbons if I attacked you?"

Splutter-splutter.

He stood there watching her trying to come up with a response to that question. The other Sailor Senshi could only stare at the spectacle if front of them.

"And look at my cloak! It's completely ruined. Do you have any way to replace it young lady?!" Joram said as he let his aura flare to life so that he could dry off faster.

"You see? He must be evil; he's glowing!" Mars said as she sent off another Fire Soul attack.

Joram had had enough of this crap. He again jumped into the air and landed on one of the light posts. "If you are going to keep on attacking me for now reason, take this: Water Dragon no Jutsu!"

Water from the koi ponds in the immediate area all started to flow into a central figure the shape of a long serpentine dragon. The five girls couldn't believe what they were seeing. One he had summoned some sort of youma, and two, he did it while standing on a light pole.

Sailor Mars was hit full on by the descending dragon. It took her up into the air in its mouth, then turned and slammed her into the ground, the rest of its body flowing over the limp body. In moments the whole thing was over. The four other girls finally jumped into the action.

Orange skirt shot some sort of beam at him that mixed with green skirt's lightning attack. That missed as he dropped to the ground to get in close. The one in blue summoned an icy fog to hide them as they tried to regroup. It didn't help.

Joram came in fast while performing several hand seals. He tagged the girl in the green skirt at the base of her neck and she dropped into a boneless heap on the ground with barely a whisper. Repeat process three times, and you once again have a quiet park. He picked up each of the girls and lined them up so the four conscious girls leaned against a bench. The one known as Sailor Mars was laid on the bench behind the others' heads.

When the fog cleared he had four sets of girls glaring at him impotently.

He took a seat on the ground in front of them and abruptly jumped up again. He walked over to them and laid his ruined cloak across their laps. Once he sat down again, he noticed that they were all blushing furiously. He didn't understand that. They went around in those short skirts, then blushed when someone wanted to cover them up? Odd world.

"So. My first question for all of you is: Why the hell did you attack me?"

Since they could still move their heads, they took turns looking at one another. Finally the one with weird pig tails spoke up.

"Why haven't you killed us yet?" She asked in a brave voice.

"Why would I want to kill a bunch of pretty ladies like yourselves?" Joram asked in genuine confusion.

They just gaped at him.

"The only reason why I hit that Sailor Mars girl was because she kept on attacking me."

"So what were you doing here?" Green skirt asked sarcastically.

"Like I was saying, I was sitting here minding my own business when suddenly this berserker golem starts attacking the people in the park, sucking their chakra back like it was dieing of thirst." He said as he got up and stomped around back and forth mimicking the clay golem. As he turned around to make a scary face at the girls a rose flew past his nose. He caught it by reflex. The girls blinked at him. Nobody had ever caught Tuxedo Kamen's rose before.

"A rose?" Was all he could ask before Tuxedo Kamen's cane skewered him through his right lung and out his chest. He fell over, unable to believe he had missed that one. Why hadn't he worn his armour? Ami and Minako fainted at the sight, and both Usagi and Makoto screamed in horror at what they saw.

Tuxedo Kamen landed beside Joram. "Fear not pretty soldiers for I have felled the villain - " He cut off as Joram got to his knees and yelled: "Rasengan!" As he yelled that word a blue sphere of swirling light appeared in his left hand. He then hit Tuxedo Kamen in the stomach with it.

Enter light show.

Tuxedo Kamen was immediately enveloped in the swirling blue light and flung back in a straight line all the way to the large tree which stopped him dead. The light swirled around him for another couple of seconds before it disappeared. There was now a shallow trench that marked his path to the tree.

When it cleared up enough to see him again, they wished that they hadn't seen him. Most of his outfit had been shredded by the light. But where the attack had struck there was a hole the size of his fist.

"Oh my god! You killed Tuxedo Kamen!" Pig tailed girl yelled at him, tears coming in torrents.

"And I... should... have let... him kill... me?" Joram asked as he coughed up more blood. He then set his jaw and used his left arm to pull the cane back out his back. There was a small fountain of blood that spewed forth from the wound once the cane was out. He just about fainted from the pain.

The one in green spoke next. "He was just trying to protect us...."

"Yeah, and... I was... just telling... you a story!" Joram finished angrily, now coughing up even more blood. Concentrating as much as he could, Joram healed as much of the damage he could. It wasn't much, but it at least closed the lung.

"Tell you what." Joram said as he stood up and glared down at the girls. "I'll save his life if you promise to never attack me again." Both girls just stared at him. "He won't be alive much longer. Decide now."

"We promise!" Both yelled in unison. Joram nodded to himself and made his way over to the dieing man. He knelt down beside him and checked his vitals by extending his perceptions through his, now glowing blue, hand. He was on death's door. Again he used his chakra to heal what he could and bring the guy back a foot or so from said door.

He then rolled him over onto his back and winced at what he saw. Sure enough, there really was a hole the size of his fist in the man's gut. He reached over and covered his mid-section with the tattered remains of the man's cloak.

With that done Joram began to do a long and complex series of hand seals as he chanted under his breath. After a minute or so he extended his palms out to the man on the ground and the air shimmered around the still form of Tuxedo Kamen. Soon he began to float about a couple of feet off the ground. There was suddenly a bright flash of light and Tuxedo Kamen was encased in some sort of clear crystal. The crystal extended about a foot above his head, and another foot below his feet. It looked as though there was a foot of crystal between the viewer and the man inside, and it looked like it had nine sides to it. The crystal then unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

About this time Sailor Mars began to stir. Great, the last thing he needed was another round of "lets try and fry Joram". Performing another quick jutsu, Joram headed over to where the girls in the skirts were while the crystal dragged along behind him in the shallow trench.

"Wh- What did you do to him?" Pig tailed girl asked with quivering lip and unshed tears.

"I saved his life. Now make good on your promise and make sure your friend doesn't attack me while I help you up." Joram said as he leaned over and took the pig tailed blonde by the arm and brought her to her feet.

"Oh my." Sailor Mercury said as she woke up and noticed Sailor Moon being held closely by that Joram character. "What's he doing?"

"Don't ask me." Was all Jupiter could think to say. Even though Joram had taken them all out, been impaled, and had just about killed Tuxedo Kamen, he was still gorgeous! She began to wonder if he had a boyfriend.

When Joram's hand began to glow again he touched Sailor Moon at the base of the neck again.

"Wow! I can feel my body again!" She exclaimed happily just as Mars sat up on her bench.

"What do you mean 'you can feel your body again'?" She asked as she looked over at her ditsy leader. Here eyes opened in anger when she saw Joram standing there with his arm around Sailor Moon. "What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled. No one could tell if it was aimed at Sailor Moon or Joram. In either case it was loud enough to rouse Minako with a very unladylike snort.

"Don'tgetmadMars!He'sonourside!" Sailor Moon said as fast as she could because Mars was now glowing red again. The three other girls on the ground wished they were anywhere but between the angry Sailor Mars and their princess. Mars was still unsteady on her feet as she stumbled past her friends to confront the agent of evil in front of her.

"Move it Sailor Moon! I'm going to fry him once and for all!" She said as actual fire started to swirl around her feet.

"We promised not to attack him Mars! Stand down!" Sailor Mars was so shocked by the steel in her princess's voice that her aura of fire winked out as her jaw dropped open. "He saved Tuxedo Kamen's life, and for that I have promised that we would no longer attack him." She explained in a more Usagi like tone of voice as she walked over to the dumbstruck warrior.

Joram watched all of this and stored all of it away for later. For now he had to cough up some more clotted blood. That brought everyone's attention back to him with the realization that he was still very injured. Sailor Moon was at his left side helping him keep his feet before he finished coughing. It felt as though he had torn something again as he coughed. This was much more pain than he was used to being in. With a murmured thanks Joram made his way over to Sailor Venus, the second blonde, and tapped the base of her neck. He then did the same for the remaining two before he slumped down on the bench.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Mercury asked as she scanned him with her computer.

"I'll be fine in the morning." He said as once again a fit of coughing to him. "I'll just need a place to stay for the night. Are there any inns nearby?" He asked no one in particular. Sailor Mars was not about to answer him, her pride was still too hurt. Minako answered for the group.

"There's a motel not far form here. I'm sure they have some rooms free."

"Any food? I haven't eaten since yesterday. I think." The last was muttered under his breath.

The girls looked from one to the other. "We don't have any money on us." Makoto said.

Joram just reached into his satchel and tossed the bag of paper money at her. "Asuza said that it should be enough to get me a place to stay. I hope there is enough money to get some food too." Joram said as he tried to get up again. Green skirt was there helping him up before any of the others so much as moved.

"Thanks, uh...." Joram left it hanging. He didn't know their names.

"Sailor Jupiter." She said as she coloured slightly.

"Thanks Sailor Jupiter." Joram said. Orange skirt finally opened the bag and just about fainted again.

"There's gotta be close to a million yen in here!" She exclaimed. The others crowded around to see. "Where did you get this much money?"

"Did you steal it?" Mars accused.

"The bank. And no, I didn't steal it kid. I exchanged my money for it fair and square." Joram said with a glare at the annoying girl.

"Enough everyone!" Sailor Moon said in frustration. "We have to get this guy a room and some food. We also have to take care of Tuxedo Kamen." She said as she knelt down beside his crystal encased body. "What is it you did to him?" She asked, not even looking up from Mamoru's face.

"I would like to know that as well." Mercury said as she scanned the crystal.

"Oh. I just formed a stasis crystal around him." The only one who didn't blink was Mercury. She of course understood the concept. For the others he said, "I stopped time for him."

"How is that possible?" Minako asked in shock. "Wouldn't that require vast amounts of energy?"

"It did cost vast amounts of energy." Joram said. "Now can we get going? I'm starving."

"Ano.... Do you have another shirt you could put on. You might scare the employees if you go in there looking like that." Sailor Moon said to Joram as they approached one of her favourite restaurants.

"Oh, ah, sure." Joram said as he looked around. They were on top of a store that sold those scrying boxes and other odd stuff. With another shrug he took off his shin guards, then his bracers. His swords followed next. When it came time for his shirt he paused. The Sailor Senshi, as they had finally introduced themselves as, looked at him in askance.

"Someone will have to help me with this." He said as he held up a kunai for someone to take. Sailor Mercury was the one who caught on first. She took the kunai and began to cut the shirt off Joram. She couldn't help but notice just how... chiselled his muscles looked. This man was probably in better shape than most Olympic athletes. The other Senshi were silently berating themselves for not having caught on sooner. It wasn't every day that you could cut the shirt off a cute guy like this. Even if it was only for medical purposes.

They all winced though as some of the cloth tore away some of the clotted blood and he began to bleed again. This problem was solved by Mercury using one of the strips of dry cloth as a compress against his chest. Joram smiled down at the little Senshi in front of him and took out some bandages and a poultice from his satchel.

"These might be a little more effective." Joram said as he handed them to his impromptu nurse. She blushed slightly and muttered a quiet thank you and proceeded to bandage him up.

The process took about half an hour or so, so he was now ready to heal himself again. He performed his healing jutsu as the girls watched in awe. His hand glowed blue, but other than that they didn't know what he was doing. He then placed his glowing had over the hole in his back.

"What is it you are doing?" Mercury asked him as her visor picked up the weird energy readings.

"Just helping the healing process along." Joram said.

"But how are you doing it? You aren't using any magic that I can detect, but I do detect some energy." Sailor Mercury asked/said.

"I'm just using my chakra. You know, your life energy...." Joram sighed yet again when they all just blinked at him. Mars seemed to come to an understanding because she practically lit up.

"You mean ki? How can you use you ki like that? I've practiced all my life and am just able to do a fire reading."

"You _are_ a lot younger than me after all." He replied with a wry grin.

"How old do you think we are?" Sailor Mars asked indignantly.

"I don't know, around fifteen?" He asked as they all face faulted. How could he guess so accurately?

"How do you know we're not really older, hmm?" Mars asked.

"Because I got your biological information when I paralyzed each of you." Joram said simply. "I know that Sailor Moon needs to get more sleep," Said Senshi shot a triumphant look at Mars, "and more exercise." Said Senshi grew a large tear, "While Sailor Jupiter is in good shape and eats well." Jupiter blushed at the compliment.

"You could tell all that by just paralyzing us?" Mercury said in amazement.

"Well, yeah. But we can talk about that later. I'm about to fall over from lack of food." His statement was punctuated by a loud stomach growl.

"One last question. So knowing our biological information, could you say... identify us if we were wearing different clothes in a crowd of people?"

"It would take me longer to identify you in a crowd, but yeah. Why?"

Sigh. "Nothing. I was just curious." Mercury said as she dropped her transformation, turning into a regular school girl again. The other Senshi were flabbergasted.

"How could you do that?!" Mars asked, her blood pressure going through the roof.

"Joram just said that he could identify us whenever or wherever he saw us. Might as well go in and eat without everyone staring at us, ne?"

"Is there something wrong with changing? Are you on duty or something?"

"Our identities are supposed to be secret!" Mars was almost yelling now.

"Oh. Well you won't have to worry about me. I won't tell. If you prefer, I could use a disguise too? Is that why that masked guy was dressed up too?"

"Ah.... Something like that." Sailor Jupiter said as she too returned to normal. "If you could please call me Makoto when I'm not in the sailor outfit that would be great." The other Senshi followed suite and introduced themselves. Rei just pouted. With all that done, Amy came up with a good question.

"How are we going to get down?"

"I have a rope." Joram said as he reached into his bag. A more normal shirt than the one he had been wearing came out along with a fine rope. Then he put his swords in. Not like he would need them in this boring city.

"How did you do that? That's way too big to fit in there!"

"It's a bag of holding." Joram said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're a magical girl, haven't you ever seen something like this before?"

"Well, not like that anyway." Venus said sheepishly. Then she brightened up and said, "Do you know where I can get one?"

"If they aren't available here, then I couldn't begin to guess where you could acquire one." He said apologetically as he scratched the back of his head.

"You guys should get going. I'll stay here and watch over Tuxedo Mask."

"Why? He'll be fine. Nothing can hurt him when he's in that state."

"We've had problems with people trying to kidnap him in the past." Usagi said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh. Ok then. You want us to bring you anything?"

Her eyes turned into hearts. "Oh, some sweet bean buns, pork buns, beef buns, some ice cream-" She was cut off by Joram raising his hands.

"No problem. We'll just get his whole stock. But what's 'Ice Cream'?"

Insert yet another face fault.

"You've never heard of ice cream?!" All five girls asked at once. Rei even forgot to be mad at him in light of this revelation. Maybe that is why he was such a jerk; he'd never had ice cream.

"Where are you from?!"

"That's a long story. I've just arrived in this... world and I don't even know where I am. It's just nice that we speak the same language."

"How did you get here then?" Ami asked, now very curious about their new acquaintance.

"I'll explain after we eat. Seriously, I'm gonna faint if I wait much longer." Joram said as the latched the end of the rope to the wall. The rope's end was capped with a sphere of metal about the size of a plum. When he let go of the rope it stayed stuck to the wall. He then looked over the edge of the building to check if the alley was, then threw the rest of the rope over.

"How is it doing that?" Usagi asked.

"Magic." Joram said with a grin. He then motioned to Rei and with a fancy wave of the arm said, "After you."

"No-no-no-no-no!! You go first. I don't trust that or you for that matter." She said emphatically.

"In case you'd forgotten, I can't use this arm effectively." He said, pointing to where he had been impaled. "I brought it out so you wouldn't have to jump down. If you don't want to use it, you can either jump or stay with Usagi." To emphasise his point, he took a bundle of cash from the bag and hopped down into the alley.

Joram winced as he landed in the alley. The landing hurt more than he wanted to admit. He looked up to see if anyone was coming and was surprised to see that it was Rei that was the first one to climb down. Luckily she was wearing pants. He quickly turned away anyways, and headed for the street. When there he turned left and went into the restaurant. Boy did it smell good. They had a display case full of baked goods, as well as several trays full of things that looked sweet. There were a couple of people working behind the counter, it looked like a father-son combination, and a couple other people eating and chatting away the evening.

He guessed that the boards full of symbols above the food preparation area was supposed to be a menu, but he couldn't read it. So he waited for the other four girls to arrive.

When they had all arrived Ami and Minako both went and sat in a booth in a corner to save them all some seats while the rest of them ordered.

"Hey, Makoto. Would you mind doing the ordering?" Asked Joram.

"Sure." Was all Makoto said before she started ordering things he had never heard of.

"Make it a lot. I'm really hungry."

"How much do you want to spend?" Makoto asked him. In response to the silly question Joram just handed her the stack of money he had taken. It was a stack of fifty thousand yen.

"Be sure to get something we can snack on while we wait for the food." With a smile, Joram left to sit with the other two girls while he waited for the food.

"So, where would you like to store Tuxedo Kamen while he's like that?" Both Ami and Minako looked stricken that they hadn't considered the thought. They both looked at each other.

"I can't let him stay at my place. My mother wouldn't understand." Ami said.

"Me either. Maybe Rei has an extra room at the shrine they aren't using." Minako suggested.

"That's a good idea Mina-chan. It's central and out of the way at the same time. We'll just have to ask Rei about that." Ami said, happy that she was able to contribute to the dilemma.

"Yeah. Now about Tuxedo Kamen. I'll have to visit him every day to heal him a bit at a time before I can release him from the stasis crystal. With you taking him I guess that I'll be seeing you all a lot more after this, huh?" He said, not too sure how he felt about that. Sure they were cute, but Rei had a tendency to want to inflict violence upon his person.

"That'll be great!" Makoto said as she sat down beside him. Rei took one of the chairs from a nearby table and parked herself at the open side of the table.

"What'll be great?" Rei asked warily.

"Joram will be hanging around more with us." Makoto said happily, having missed the part about healing Tuxedo Kamen, and hearing only the 'seeing them all a lot more' part of what he had said.

"What?" Both Joram and Rei asked in unison.

"I'm only going to be checking up on rose boy." Three of the four girls looked, to varying degrees, disappointed to hear this. "Besides, I'll have to find my own place to stay. I don't think I'll be getting home any time soon."

"I can help you find a place if you want." Makoto said. "I live on my own so I know how to do the looking."

"Thanks. That would be a big help." Joram said with his usual grin. Makoto cheered up at the thought of helping Joram. His smile reminded her of her sempai that had broken her heart a while back. Though, reflecting on it, Joram was a lot cuter.

As Joram finished speaking their appetizers arrived. Joram looked at the narrow brown rolls of whatever they were. He then looked at the two little sticks each of the girls were using to eat. His confusion must have shown because Rei spoke up.

"What? Don't you know how to use chop sticks?" She asked in a mockingly innocent tone of voice.

"Never seen the like before in my life." Joram admitted. Rei snickered at that. Mister "I'm so good" couldn't even use chop sticks!

Makoto was nice enough to show him how to use them after she shot Rei a glare. It was harder than it looked. He spent the next couple of minutes just trying to pick up one piece of food. Makoto turned to him and adjusted his grip on the chop sticks. That seemed to do the trick, and soon he was wolfing down food fast enough to shame Usagi.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were hungry." Minako said in awe. Never before had she seen food disappear so fast.

Only a couple minutes later the food was done. The girls hadn't been able to eat very much of the food due to their watching Joram eat it all.

"Wow. I wasn't sure if it would be good, but man! That was great. How long do you think it will take for the rest of the food to arrive?" Joram asked Makoto.

"Uh, he said fifteen minutes after the appetizers were out." He really would need all that money he had just to survive if he ate that much all the time.

Small talk ensued. Joram questioned them on many different subjects. How large was this planet? How many moons did it have? How many planets in the solar system? Were there very many monsters around? Orcs, goblins, giants, etc.... Where he could buy food, clothes, and equipment. Where he could go to train? Where could he learn to read this Japanese language? Where he could go to register and set up a place of business to sustain himself while he searched for a way home.

By the time they finished eating, said food having been enough to feed twelve people, the girls felt wrung out. He had asked them so many questions that they couldn't even remember a quarter of them. Joram on the other hand had found out a lot, and thus felt great. They left the owner with a tip, and several dozen various buns fewer.

"Here's your change." Makoto said as she went to hand him the rest of the money.

"You keep it. I've got a whole bag of the stuff left." Joram said as he took the bag of money back from Minako and dropped it into his shoulder satchel.

It was now full dark outside as they climbed up the rope to get to Usagi. Joram just jumped up. Usagi had fallen asleep while leaning on the crystal and was snoring softly. Rei began to tip-toe closer to Usagi to give her a scare.

"Is she always like this?" Joram whispered to Makoto as Rei goosed Usagi.

"Yeah, she loves to bug Usagi. As for her not liking you...? I think that it's just her pride that's sore. You really creamed her." She said with a smile at the memory. Sometimes Rei just needed to get her ass handed to her to keep her in line.

Once the commotion died down they were finally able to fill Usagi in on the details. She wasn't too happy about Mamoru, he finally got to find out Tuxedo Kamen' name, being left alone with Rei, but she relented when they brought up the point of logistics in her case. It just wouldn't work to have a crystal encased Tuxedo Kamen in her bedroom. The shrine made the most sense. Since Joram was feeling much better after having eaten, and another hour and a half to heal while he ate, he decided he would carry the stasis crystal this time. None of the girls could believe what they were seeing.

"What are you doing?! You'll open up the wound!" Ami said as she tried to get him to put the crystal down.

"I'm fine, really."

"Big macho man has to prove himself?" Rei asked.

For some reason he could not explain, he found himself unable to ignore her jibes.

"Fine. You can carry him." He then tossed the crystal at her. Rei was too surprised to even try dodging and was knocked flat on her back, the crystal pinning her to the ground.

"You jerk! Waddya' do that for, huh!" Rei exclaimed from under the crystal. Usagi just sat there and cried because Mamoru was being tossed around like a toy.

"You know Ami, you had better just give me the address of the shrine. I don't think that it would be a good idea for us to be around each other for extended periods of time."

"You know? I was just thinking the same thing." Ami said as she reached into her purse and found a pen and paper. "You can probably ask someone for directions on how to get there."

"Thanks. I'll be there at sunset tomorrow." Joram said then went over and retrieved his rope. With a wave and a wink Joram began to leap from building to building until out of sight.

"I swear I'm gonna get him if it's the last thing I do!" Rei said as she finally extracted herself from under Tuxedo Kamen.

"Really Rei. It wouldn't kill you to be more civil to him." Ami said as she pulled out her henshin stick.

"Yeah, Rei. The only reason he kicked your but is because you were being an idiot." Makoto said as she too took out her henshin stick.

"And, let us not forget, he's absolutely gorgeous!" Minako added with stars in her eyes.

"Whaaaaa! He threw Tuxedo Kamen!!!!" Usagi continued to cry.

Five flashy transformations later the Sailor Senshi were also bounding from rooftop to rooftop. Sailor Jupiter had the honour of carrying their future prince.

Joram didn't have any idea where he was, but he had already seen one guy blow up a wall with his index finger, another guy flying over head crying: "Verriiiillllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy", and a tiny old man in a ninja outfit with a large bundle on his back being chased by a hoard of angry women.

This was definitely more interesting than that Juban place he had been the night before. Though he had yet to see any really cute girls. Ah, well. Can't have everything.

Just as he was thinking that though a bicycle landed on his head, knocking him to the ground face first.

"Aya! What is person doing under bike?" He heard a girl say from somewhere above him.

"MmmmMMmmmmhhhmmmmMmmmm...." Joram managed to say. He then felt a huge weight being removed from his back and was able to sit up. When he did, he saw an amazingly beautiful blue haired girl in a short dress standing beside him.

"What mister say?" She asked cutely.

"I said you landed on my head." Joram said, somewhat disgruntled at having been landed on.

"Wow! You speak mandarin really well mister." She said, now very happy for some reason.

"Mandarin?" _I thought I was speaking Japanese...?_ "Anyway. Why did you land on me?"

"Oh, you are standing in front of the door to the establishment that I have a delivery for."

"Ah, I see.... Why didn't you just ask me to move?"

"Sorry, didn't have time. Aya! I need to get this in there!" She said as she dashed into the building. Joram sighed and continued walking. What was with the Nerima district anyway?

After another hour or so of wandering around, Joram realized that he was quite hungry. He then caught a whiff of something that smelt REALLY good. So he followed his nose all the way to a small restaurant.

Inside there was a young lady working at making the food and serving it all at once. He was very impressed with the skill she showed when she tossed a plate of food to a waitress, who in turn caught it beautifully and served it to a customer. All in all, a very nice show. So he went up to the counter and pulled up a stool.

"So, what'll you have sugar?" The girl preparing the food asked. She was dressed almost like a shinobi, except for the spatulas on her bandolier. That was just plain weird.

"I'll have one of those thingies." Joram said while pointing at what she was cooking.

"I know that hun, but what kind?" She said as she sent several of the things she had cooked over to the waitress.

"I don't understand the question. What kinds are there?" Joram asked, trying very hard not to be rude. Everyone expected you to be able to read in this place.

The cook responded by pointing up at a sign. Again, he couldn't read. This time he told her as much, and when it sunk in she just about dropped her spatula.

"I'm sorry darling, I didn't know. What kind of toppings would you like?" She asked, now actually looking at him. Wow. He's as cute as Ran-chan. She thought to herself as she looked at him. Probably just has his looks to get him through life.

Joram looked over at the toppings that were arrayed in front of the girl. They all looked edible.

"I'll have six with as many of those topping as you can get on." Joram said decisively after a couple moments contemplation.

The cook just stared. She looked him up and down, twice. The diadem that he wore looked expensive, but for the rest of him.... He looked like a bum.

"Cash up front sugar." She said with a smile. With a shrug Joram reached into his satchel and pulled out another stack of bills, then tossed it to her. She nearly didn't catch it, she was so shocked. Fifty thousand yen?!

"This is way too much honey." She tried to explain to him.

"Well, I'll just have to come back and eat until it runs out." Joram said simply, completely disregarding her protests. A couple of customers looked up, curious to see what was going on. When they too saw the stack of money they began to whisper to each other. Joram ignored them as he regarded the ninja like cook.

"So.... Can I have one of those things yet?"

"Okonomiyaki." She said absentmindedly.

"Bless you."

"Huh? No, no. That's what this is called; okonomiyaki." She explained as she tucked the money away and began to cook up a storm. She was quite skilled at what she did, almost like it was a form of art.

"Ah. Sorry. Just arrived in Japan yesterday." Joram explained as he continued to watch her work.

"Really? You sound like you've been here all your life." She commented as she flipped his first okonomiyaki over.

"That's what people keep on telling me...." Joram muttered to himself.

"So how is it that you can speak so well, and not be able to read?"

"Would you believe it if I told you that I was sucked into a portal that an evil wizard had created to do the Light knows what and awoke to Mr. Green Turtle trying to eat me?" Joram said sarcastically.

"Oh, so you've been to the Kuno estate already have you?" She asked as she served him his first okonomiyaki.

"Yeah, that's where I woke up after having landed here." He said and tried the new dish. It was amazing! The taste, the flavour, the texture! It was exquisite! "Wow, this is really good!"

"Thanks sugar. It's good to actually hear that every now and then. When you run your own restaurant and cook all at the same time, you don't get to actually hear that a whole lot." She said smiling, then, "Wow, you eat just about as fast as Ranchan!" She said as she noticed that his okonomiyaki was already gone.

"Yeah, I haven't really eaten since last night. You know, a snack here, a snack there, but not anything really significant."

"I can see what you mean. Anyway, you said you woke up in the Kuno estate? You must be a really good, or lucky, martial artist to have escaped there unscathed." She said as she dropped another okonomiyaki onto his plate. It was mostly gone by the time he answered.

"Meh. I don't know. It was mainly the traps that gave me trouble. Never been good with traps. How about you? You're kinda dressed like a ninja. Do you know how to fight?" The second okonomiyaki was now gone.

"Not as well as Ranchan, but I can hold my own." She said with a grin. "Why do you ask?"

"Wouldn't mind to find a place to work out is all." Joram said trying to dismiss the subject. "So, do you work here all day?"

"Sure do. It's hard owning your own business, but I manage to get by. What do you do for work?"

"I'm not working right now. Say, do you know of any weapon smiths in the area that would like someone to help out here and there?"

"Weapon smith? No, not really. I mean, there is this one guy we have to mail out to order from, but he works out in the country side. I'm afraid I don't know of any in town. Sorry."

This made Joram think. If she knew people that needed weapons enough that they had to order out of town, then he might be able to supply them if he had a place to make them.

"So, how hard is it getting a business started up?" He asked as she gave him his next okonomiyaki.

"Wow, now that's a good question. First you have to let the city know what kind of business you wish to set up. Then you have to get the proper location, you need a good overhead, supplies, employees if you are gonna be running a place that will need them, the proper papers, oh, I could go on for a while. You thinking about starting up a business sugar?"

"Yeah. If I'm going to be here a while, may as well start working eh?"

"That's true. The only reason why I set up this business was so that I could be close to Ranchan." She said with a smile.

"So, how would I go about getting some papers? I don't quite exist in this country yet." Joram asked then finished off the last bit of okonomiyaki.

"Now that's a tough one." Ukyou mused.

"Yeah, usually I would bribe some government official or something, but I don't know anyone here."

"Bribery you say?" Joram turned to regard a pretty young lady of about eighteen or so years old, who had her short brown hair cut to about jaw length. "That must be one of my most favourite words." She said with a grin that reminded him of the way a cat looks at a tasty meal.

"Oh, hello Nabiki. I didn't see you come in." Ukyou said with a smile. "So, what'll it be?"

"I think a deluxe would do nicely." She said as she sat down on the stool beside him. "So," she said turning to Joram again. "How much would you be willing to pay to get the proper identification to be legal in this country?"

"I don't know," Joram said as he thought about it. "About thirty gold pieces." He usually would have to pay much more but he decided to start low.

"How large are the coins?" She asked right away. In response to the question, Joram just pulled out a gold coin from his satchel and tossed it to her.

"Ten of those gave me this much." Joram said as he pulled the bank slip from a pocket. He hoped it had the amount written on it. He then handed it to her.

He guessed that it did, for her eyes rolled up into her head and, with a funny grin on her face, she fainted.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Joram looked at the paper he had given her to be sure it was the right one. Yup, right one. He turned to Ukyou as she stared at the poor girl on the floor. A couple of other customers looked like they wanted to help, but stayed where they were, not knowing if some sort of martial arts display would open up on them. It happened way too often.

"Is this the right paper from the bank?" Joram asked his new friend sounding rather puzzled.

Ukyou looked at the paper; nodded, looked at Nabiki, then back at the paper. Her eyes grew to about the size of the spatula heads that she was using.

"Your going to pay her _three_ times _that_?" She just about choked.

"What? Is this a lot of money?" Joram asked, trying very hard to get his bearings on this whole paper money thing. He knew that the exchange rate was way weird, so he really needed to get an idea of how much things cost in this world.

"Joram. That is enough money to live off of for a year." Joram just blinked at her. "You gave me a stack of fifty thousand yen. That is enough to get a room in an apartment building for a month."

Joram made some quick calculations in his head. It would cost him about three gold pieces a month to find a place in one of the cities back home. Well, not in the best area anyway. "Wow, that's cheap!" Joram said happily. It was Ukyou's turn to blink at him. "I would pay about two hundred and eighty thousand yen to get a room for a whole month. That's really great!" Joram found that his hopes were rising. He had enough loot and such that he would never have to worry about making money ever again. Then again, he had had enough money to retire before he had been dropped into this weird place.

Ukyou could not believe the guy in front of her. Sure, he had on a rather expensive looking diadem, but he looked like he was on the poorer side of things. Just then Nabiki started to rouse herself. Joram gave a start with a guilty look on his face. He had forgotten about that poor Nabiki girl in his enthusiasm. He quickly helped her to her feet and then to her stool. Ukyou brought over a sports drink from the fridge at the side of the restaurant.

"Drink this, it'll help."

"Thanks." Nabiki said. She still had that funny grin on her face. If she could figure out exactly how much money this guy had, she would never have to work a day in her life again. "I'm sure that that'll do for now. I'm not sure how hard it will be to get the right papers." She said as non-committally as she could and tried to keep a straight face. Normally when she conned someone it was as easy as breathing to keep a straight face, but this guy was a walking retirement plan, just waiting to be caught.

"Nabiki! That should be more than enough to cover expenses." Ukyou said somewhat scandalized that Nabiki would try and get more money from him. Upon reflection though, she shouldn't have been surprised at all. This was the woman that had conned enough money from other people over the years to keep her entire family and their free-loaders, uh, guests, fed and the place in somewhat good repair.

"I'm talking about bribing government officials here Ucchan, that's not going to be cheap by a long shot."

"Where do you plan on getting the papers from anyway?" Ukyou asked, now leaning slightly forward onto the counter.

"I have some contacts out of the city. It won't be hard to get him some papers from some small town out in the country." She said with a smile. "Good thing spring break is coming up. I can deal with it personally then to make sure things go well." She said as she finished off the sports drink and looked back to Joram. He still didn't know how this was all going to work, but if politicians were the same in this world, then he would be fine if he threw enough money at them.

"When does your "spring break" start?" Joram asked.

"The end of next week."

"What day is it now?"

"Tuesday."

Blink, blink.

"In another ten days." Nabiki said, now silently ecstatic that this Joram guy seemed to be not the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Ok then. I'll meet you here in another ten days to get you the rest of the money." Joram said as he again finished off another okonomiyaki. Ukyou was smiling faintly. She had found another person that seemed to like her food _and_ eat as much as Ranchan. This guy would be good business.

"How does eight in the morning sound?" She asked, now getting into her business mode again.

"Sounds just fine to me." Joram said as he stuck his hand out to seal the deal with a handshake. Nabiki took the proffered hand and pumped it a good one then headed off with her drink.

"You know? She is one of the most opportunistic women I have ever met." Ukyou said as she flipped yet another okonomiyaki onto Joram's plate.

"Really? She seems pretty reasonable to me." Joram said as he picked at his food.

"Don't tell me you're full already?" Ukyou jibed at him to change the subject. Nabiki was a nice girl, but she had also conned a lot of money out of her. She could have opened up a whole other location by now if not for the constant payoffs she gave the girl for one bit of information or another.

"These are a little more filling than they look." Joram said, somewhat embarrassed.

"I make the best okonomiyaki in the city. They sure had better fill you up." She said with a grin that was born of pride in a job well done. "Now, about your problem with reading."

They spent the next several hours talking about where he might be able to get lessons, where he could buy some clothing that would make him fit in better, and other little things to pass the time. After getting some directions to a nearby market called a "Mall", Joram headed out as the dinner rush came in. Ukyou waved bye to him as he left so he gave her a smile in return.

It wouldn't be long before sunset now and he still hadn't found a place to stay yet. He sighed and headed off to the "Mall". He hoped they would have some decent clothing. He wasn't hopeful though, for he still hadn't seen anyone dressed in a manner that he thought of as normal.

Then he remembered that he still had to drop by the shrine to heal that idiot who had attacked him from behind. This posed a problem. He really wanted to get some new clothes and such, but he had said that he would drop by the shrine at sunset. He smiled as a thought occurred to him. He looked around and stepped into an alley.

He performed a quick set of hand seal and said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". With a small puff of smoke another Joram appeared. They grinned at each other.

"So my handsome young friend, you're gonna go shopping while I take care of matters at the shrine." Joram number one said to the clone as he handed him a stack of fifty thousand yen.

"I will do you proud sir!" Joram number two said with a military like salute.

"On your way soldier!" Joram number one barked at the other him. Joram number two immediately jumped to the top of a building and sped off at full speed. Joram number one grinned again and headed towards Juban. Good thing it wasn't very far or he might find himself being late for the first time in fifty seven years.

"You're late." Rei said in an annoyed tone of voice.

"You're on hallucinogens or something! The sun is still clearly peeking over the horizon!" Joram shot back. This didn't seem to go over well at all with the young priestess because she started to glow red again. She really did have an impressive aura. Too bad it was geared to hurt him at that moment though.

"Stop it right now you two!" Usagi said in a pleading voice. "We have to start healing Mamoru-san."

"Right, sorry. I was being distracted by tomboy you see." Joram said as he followed Usagi into the shrine. Rei heard him and just about snapped her broom in half.

"I despise that man." She said to no one in particular as she followed them into the shrine. The other girls had arrived some time before and were fretting because they didn't really know if he would show up or not. Makoto was the one who had kept the conversation going, trying to distract the girls from their darker thoughts. All of them smiled with relief as Joram entered the room. The Outers had come over too and were glaring at the man who had uncovered the identities of the Inners and mortally wounded Tuxedo Mask.

Haruka stood up and strode into Joram's way. He stopped and regarded this woman who dressed like a man. They stared at each other for a few moments, one angry, the other impassive. She was very tall for a woman, almost tall enough to look him straight in the eye. It was odd. While the other girls in the room he had already met were of varying good alignment, this one was neutral, as was the green haired one.

The tension in the room was growing. Rei didn't like the guy much, and wouldn't mind seeing him laid low, but they had promised to not attack him any more. That and she was also worried about the damage that could occur should a fight break out.

Ami was watching the whole thing with interest, having already taken out her computer to scan the whole thing so she could watch it and analyze it later. Minako was watching, not altogether sure if she should be betting on Joram or Haruka. On the one hand, they knew very little about this Joram fellow but he could have easily killed them all yesterday. On the other hand, Haruka was as paranoid as they came and could use to be taught a lesson.

Makoto was also torn. Haruka was a Senshi and more or less on their side. Joram was a really cute stranger that showed up, killed a rampaging monster, taken them all out (in both senses of the word), and had agreed to help save Tuxedo Kamen's life after Kamen had tried to kill him. What finally made her vote for him was her princess. She was a wonderful judge of character. It also helped that she had been there to make that promise at the same time.

"I challenge you!" Haruka said finally. She was getting quite irritated with this man and his cool demeanour. She was one of the best martial artists in the country, if not the world, and she would enjoy kicking his ass.

"Why?" Was all Joram asked as he stood there and gauged her ability. She looked like she was in really good shape and held herself well.

"I don't trust you. You conveniently show up and "kill" a rampaging monster, paralyze my princess, and are now holding Tuxedo Kamen as hostage so that we won't attack you! As far as I am concerned, you are our enemy."

Usagi started to cry when Haruka finished her rant. Everybody was shocked at this and turned to regard her.

"Waaaaaaa!!! If you kill him he won't be able to heal Tuxedo Kamen!!!" She was gushing tears.

"He is our enemy, and I will deal with him. We can figure out what to do with Tuxedo Kamen later. But now I will deal with this problem." Haruka said as she strode to the front door. "I will fight you outside so as not to risk anyone else." She was gone.

Joram just stood there. Blinked, then started to laugh. That was definitely not the response everybody was waiting to see. "Whatever." He said to himself, then turned to the very concerned looking Usagi. "Where did you store Tuxedo Kamen? I'll take care of him first." Usagi brightened so much at this news that it was painful to look at her directly.

"This way!!" She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to a side room.

"He's not taking her seriously at all is he?" Michiru said to Minako, sounding quite annoyed.

"I think he is doing that first because that is what he said he would do. I guess things are just added to a list of things he needs to do." She guessed.

"That'll just make Haruka even more angry you know."

"Well she can wait. She was the one who interrupted anyway." Ami said just before she entered the side room that contained the crystallized Tuxedo Kamen.

Michiru could just grind her teeth at that.

Meanwhile in the side room.

"Will he be all right?" Usagi asked anxiously.

"He should be fine so long as I can heal him properly." Joram said with a shrug. He reached into his shoulder satchel and pulled out a glass vial of blue liquid.

"What's that?" She asked with interest.

"It's a healing potion. I don't have very many, and I don't know if I can make anymore in this place. I wouldn't be using it now if that girl hadn't challenged me. I want to save my chakra just in case she winds up being better than I think she is." He said absently as he concentrated on other matters. He placed a hand over Tuxedo Kamen's head and a small hole appeared on the surface of the crystal and extended all the way to his mouth. With that done he un-corked the potion and poured it into Tuxedo Kamen's mouth. He reflexively swallowed the life repairing fluid, and as they watched he seemed to regain some of his colour.

"That's amazing." Usagi whispered. Ami was standing in the background scanning the whole proceedings. She was amazed at what she saw. The magical fluid had repaired twenty three percent of the damage that had been done to him.

"That should do for today. I'll come back tomorrow to heal him again." He said with another reassuring smile. Usagi blushed slightly at this and thanked him with her head bowed.

"Now, who is that cocky girl who challenged me anyway?" Usagi balked at this for a moment before Ami answered from behind. Usagi just about jumped out of her skin in fright, but Joram merely turned to her, already having heard her come in.

"Her name is Haruka and she is one of the Outer Senshi. She is somewhat paranoid, but she really does try to protect everyone."

"Ah. Ok." Joram said with a shrug. He didn't know what the "Outer" part of the name was supposed to mean, but he guessed they were all on the same team because they all had been hanging out together.

With that said Joram headed back out. The green haired girl was glaring at him for some reason. He shrugged as he went past them all towards the front door. Rei just watched in interest as he went past, then followed him outside. All of the others followed her out, including Luna and Artemis. They didn't trust the situation either. But something about him bothered Luna in a way that she couldn't quite place.

Haruka was waiting there impatiently. "So, you didn't try and run away did you?" Boy was she sounding smug.

"No. I just had more important things to take care of first." Joram said in a matter-of-a-fact tone. That wasn't the best thing to say. With a silent snarl Haruka lunged forward and tried to punch a hole through is face. Joram just stepped to the side like he was made of water. So Haruka used her forward momentum to drop her front end and pivot a round house to his head.

Again Joram dodged the attack like he had had all the time in the world to prepare to do so. Haruka took up a ready stance. The other Sailor Senshi couldn't believe what they were seeing. Haruka was the best martial artist around, and he was just dodging the attacks like they were nothing. Makoto watched with a critical eye. Being the only other martial artist of the group she was able to pick up on the subtle movements. She could tell that Joram was good just by the way that he walked, but he was now showing that he was even better than she had initially thought.

"Why don't you attack coward?" Haruka practically spit.

"Why should I? You're the one who started this fight." Joram was looking like he was bored with the whole thing, and truly he was. She wasn't doing anything that a genin couldn't do.

"Fine!" She shouted as she closed in for combat once more. She started out with another round house. Started, because her anchoring foot slipped on something unseen and she landed on her bottom with a loud thump. Joram couldn't help but laugh at the sight. The others either grew a large tear drop, face faulted or just shook their head.

By the time she got to her feet her face was so red that he thought that she might burst something. She took an object from her pocket and shouted something that he didn't quite hear because he was still laughing. He stopped abruptly as she began to glow, lose her clothing (blush!), and get a new outfit. She was dressed like the others but had a few subtle differences to the costume. Still indecent though.

He felt the magical energy radiating off her like a bonfire. This wasn't good.

"Well if you are allowed to change, then so can I." Joram said as he pulled out a silvery bundle of cloth from his shoulder satchel. That was about as far as he got though because she yelled out "WORLD SHAKING" and a large ball of magic shot forth and ran along the ground right a him. It hit him with enough force to send him flying through the air twenty feet to land and skid another ten feet. Sailor Uranus stood there with a smug look on her face.

"Not so tough are you now?" She taunted.

Joram sat up and pulled on the silvery robe. It immediately changed colour and shape. It now looked like he was wearing a full ninja outfit.

"That wasn't too bad a shot." He admitted as he quickly strapped on his shin guards.

"Take another one then!" She shouted as she launched another magical blast at him. He was ready for this one and jumped a good twenty feet into the air to dodge it. Michiru gasped at this. The others hadn't bothered to tell the two of them that he could jump really high and was really strong. As a matter of a fact, they had pretty much just told them of Tuxedo Kamen and how he had gotten hurt by the time Joram had arrived.

When he landed he now sported the set of bracers that the Inners had seen him in before. He still hadn't taken out his swords yet.

Uranus dashed forward at much higher speeds that she had previously and started throwing punches and kicks that would lay low a lesser human being with one hit. She only ever managed to get in the occasional hit in on him, but it didn't seem to be doing much. This in turn frustrated her to no end.

"It's a good thing Hotaru isn't here. She might decide to help Uranus out." Minako murmured to Rei who just nodded. She had never seen a person that could move like that who wasn't a Sailor Senshi.

Michiru on the other hand was growing increasingly more angry as the fight went on. That Joram looked like he wasn't being affected by any of the punches of kicks that managed to get through his defences. Admittedly, the hits were few and far between, but that didn't mean that it was fair. How could he be doing so well against her? Her hand was inching its way to her henshin pen when Makoto laid her hand on her shoulder.

"She picked this fight, so she alone needs to finish it."

Michiru grimaced at her as she pulled her shoulder away.

Back to the battle. Joram was now getting tired of this and Uranus wasn't looking too happy at her inability to hit the cocky man. The others could tell that she was starting to get sloppy because she couldn't control her anger. If this girl wanted a fight so bad, he was now going to give her one. So he jumped back a dozen feet or so and regarded her. She took up another ready stance.

"Since you also used magic in this fight, I won't feel bad doing this." Joram said as he began to do a couple of hand seals.

Whatever it was that he was doing, she wasn't going to stand around like an idiot and wait for him to finish. She sprinted the few yards to him at speed that would shame any Olympic athlete and launched a flying kick at his head.

Joram finished the jutsu as she leapt and disappeared in a sudden whirlwind. Uranus saw her mistake as she was sucked into this small cyclone and was pummelled from every conceivable side.

Joram grinned as he caught her in his attack. He couldn't have hoped for a better attack on her part. This one particular technique allowed him to pull up some ki from the earth and air to spin him a tremendous speeds so that he could attack many more times a second than he normally could. In the space of about ten seconds Sailor Uranus was hit more than a hundred times with enough force behind each hit to break stone.

Ami couldn't believe the readings she was getting from that cyclone. The energy used wasn't magic at all, but the same life force he had used earlier to summon that water youma. She could also see that Uranus was taking the beating of a life time.

That was the last straw for Michiru. She brought up her henshin stick and transformed into Sailor Neptune. Makoto tried to stop her from entering the fray but was knocked back by Neptune's backhand. The other girls stood there shocked while Minako helped Makoto up.

Neptune let lose a Deep Submerge at the base of the cyclone effectively blowing the two combatants apart without hitting her lover directly. Uranus landed near Usagi and Joram landed another thirty feet the other way. Uranus looked like she had been hit by a bus, then backed over, and run over a few more times for good measure. She was still breathing, though quite unconscious.

Again Joram landed on his back hard enough to blast the air from is lungs. Before he could get his breath back he was hit by another Deep Submerge and was knocked into the wall that surrounded the shrine. Another two hit him in succession as he hit the wall, driving him through it into one of the larger trees in the area.

"Stop, you'll kill him!" Usagi pleaded to no avail. Neptune again yelled out the name of her attack.

That next Deep Submerge was suddenly halted for no apparent reason a foot from Neptune. Neptune stood there in shock as she watched the magical water from her attack turn back on her and envelope her completely. The others saw a brief flash of light from where Joram had been knocked through the wall. They then saw a bloodied Joram step through the whole in the wall and began glowing a bright blue. Neptune was struggling mightily against the water that held her captive. It was futile though. She had no way to pry the water off as she began to struggle for air.

Joram walked slowly over to his attacker all the while glowing a radiant blue. The group of friends couldn't do anything but watch. They were riveted in place, unable to move from the shock of seeing Joram both still alive and giving off an aura of majesty and fear. His hair glowed freely around his shoulders, and the diadem that he wore glinted in the moonlight.

He stopped in front of Neptune and stared at her for a moment. 'You should not have gotten involved little girl.' He sent directly to her. He could tell that she heard him, for her eyes suddenly went wide as she heard the voice inside her head. He walked around her so that he could see her back. He hand glowed blue as he reached into the water that imprisoned her and touched the base of her neck. As soon as he did that both the water and Neptune dropped to the ground. Neptune gasped for breath as she lay there not moving.

Joram then heard several gasps and a cry of warning. He spun quickly enough to see Uranus, tears streaking down her face unnoticed, run her sword through his heck. That was one of the most unpleasant things he had ever felt. She then tore the blade from his neck and round housed him hard enough to send him sliding back to the wall. Joram was conscious long enough to see Uranus drop her sword, kneel beside Neptune and pick her up in her arms. All the while tears streamed down her face.

All hell broke lose. Makoto and Ami ran over to Joram to see if they could help him in some way. Minako and Usagi both ran over to where Michiru and Haruka lay. Michiru had lost her transformation when she hit the ground, and Haruka let hers drop as she cradled the limp Michiru. Rei just stood there in utter shock.

Luna and Artemis were right there beside their princess in an instant.

Neither Usagi or Minako could think of anything to say. They both wanted to chew out the Outers for what they had done, but were also very concerned for Michiru's health.

"I can't feel my body." Michiru was saying in barely a whisper. "What did he do to me?"

"I don't know my love, but he paid for it with his life." Haruka said as she kissed her lover on the forehead. Michiru began to cry silently.

"We warned you not to trust that man Usagi!" Luna said. "Now look what has happened! Michiru can't move! How is she going to be able to fight anymore?!"

"I just wanted to help Tuxedo Kamen get better!" Usagi wailed as she dropped to her knees.

"You knew how dangerous he could be! That has got to be your worst decision ever!" Artemis added hotly.

"It's all my fault." Rei said weakly from the side lines. Nobody heard her. Artemis and Luna continued to berate their princess. Rei's lip started to tremble. All this mess had been her fault. Had she not attacked Joram, they wouldn't have had that fight, Tuxedo Kamen wouldn't be on the verge of death, and Michiru wouldn't be paralyzed.

"It's all my fault!!" She yelled at them all and ran back into the shrine. Everybody paused to stare at her as she ran.

"Rei!" Usagi said as she got up and followed her best friend into the shrine. Minako looked lost. She didn't know what she should do, so she just stayed put.

Makoto got to Joram first. His throat was such a bloody mess that she just about lost the contents of her stomach. Ami arrived a moment later to kneel down beside him to start her scans. Makoto reached out and closed his eyes the rest of the way. They looked too sad for her to be able to endure the look for much longer even though the spark of like that had been in them was gone.

Ami looked at Makoto and shook her head. He was dead.

They both started in shock as they saw the jewel set in his diadem flashed briefly.

"What was that?" Makoto asked.

"I'm scanning it now." Ami said absently as she did indeed scan the diadem more thoroughly. It cam up with massive readings of magic that she couldn't identify. "I don't know what its doing." Ami admitted as she tried to decipher the readings.

"It was calling me." Said a voice from behind. Both girls jumped in shock at the sound of Hotaru's voice.

"What do you mean it was calling you?" Ami said nervously. She didn't know what Hotaru was doing there, but if something from a dead man had caller her, it couldn't be good.

Hotaru ignored the question as she knelt down in front of Joram. Ami backed away a slight bit, but Makoto stood her ground as she stared at the sixteen year old girl. Hotaru reached out a hand and touched the black gem on the diadem.

Joram found himself in the familiar grey landscape he had been to countless times before. As before he stood before the gates of the keep. The gates were open this time which made him think that something was wrong. Sure enough, a black streak rushed out to meet him and bowled him over. When he could once again see straight he saw that it was Katreen that had knocked him over and was sobbing on his chest. That was enough to make his blood run cold. He had never seen her cry before.

"Uh, what's wrong Katreen?" Joram asked as he patted her on the back, trying to calm her somewhat with his touch. It took several minutes before she answered.

"I thought I had lost you." She said in a thick and muffled voice, for she hadn't raised her head when she spoke.

"What do you mean? I've only been in this place for a day and a half." Joram asked somewhat confused.

"I thought you had been sucked into the space between the planes and lost to me." She said as she raised her head. "I thought I had lost you." Her tears made him feel very bad, and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her. But he had to ask.

"Where am I?"

She regarded him for a moment from on his chest then sighed and sat up beside him, pulling him up into a sitting position as well. "Over two hundred thousand years have passed since you were pulled into that portal." She said in all seriousness. Her tears stopped as she looked at him.

He was completely dumb struck. Over two hundred thousand years? He found it hard to speak for some reason. "How is that possible?" He managed to say.

"I don't know Joram. I really wish that I did." She said sadly, but brightened up right away. "But I have you back now, and I'm not going to lose you again!" She said as she pounced on him. He was so surprised at her un-god like reaction that he went down easily under he light weight. She kissed him with more intensity than he had ever been kissed with, in any of his lives.

After a couple of minutes she let him go and stood up. As she looked down on him he wondered at her reaction. He had known that she liked him well enough, but not that way. He really didn't know how to feel about it. She had been his closest friend for the past couple of centuries and now she had all but said that she loved him.

After another moment of contemplation Joram got up and regarded his goddess. "So, am I to finally stay here? Or am I to be sent back?"

"You'll go back of course. You still haven't gotten near enough points yet!" She said with a wicked grin. "I will come and visit you though." The way she said it made shivers go down his spine.

"I'll look forward to your visit." He said as his world grew more and more foggy. Soon he couldn't even see Katreen. But he did hear her say that he needed to be more careful when he fought in the future.

There was another flash of light from the gem that briefly blinded those around the prone Joram. Ami's computer shut itself down and restarted itself. Ami couldn't believe it. It had never done anything like that before.

When Makoto could see again she began to doubt her vision. She blinked a few times for good measure. Nope, she wasn't seeing things. Joram's throat was once again intact. If that wasn't enough, he was also regarding her with a curious expression on his face. It was only then that she realized that she had been crying.

He reached his hand up and cupped her cheek. "It will take more than that to keep me down." He said with the most beautiful grin she had ever beheld.

"Huh?" She said intelligently.

Joram grinned at her again and this time it sent a blush to her cheeks. He turned to the new girl that was kneeling right in front of him. She looked familiar for some reason.

"So you know Her too, do you?" Was all that the girl in front of him said. It was enough.

He just responded with a slight nod. He looked to his left and saw Ami fiddling with the small thing she always had out. "Glad to see that you, too, are well." This was his night for giving winning grins. Ami just stammered for a moment in shock before she decided to keep quite, a small blush coming to her cheeks.

The girl in front of him got up and smiled down at him in a way that made him nervous. "Now that you are awake again, you had better fix Michiru momma." Yup, that smile gave him goose bumps.

Joram just stared at her, then at Michiru, then at her again. "Wow, she really hides her age well." The girls to both sides of him grew large tear drops.

Hotaru stared at him a moment longer then said, "She's my adoptive mother."

"Ah, that would explain it." Joram said as he got up gingerly. He may have been brought back to life, but his legs had still managed to fall asleep underneath him as he sat at an odd angle against the wall. "What's your name by the way?" He asked.

"Tomoe Hotaru." Was all she said.

"Good to know." Was all he said it response to that. Makoto was still watching him like he might disappear if she looked away for even a moment. He looked at Ami and saw that she still hadn't quite recovered from the shock of seeing him alive. He laughed to himself as he concentrated for a moment to turn on a shield that would protect him from more physical violence. He then strode to the other group of girls.

Minako was the first one to see him and she did the most reasonable thing that came to mind. She fainted. Now this got Haruka's attention because she landed on her shoulder. She looked at the unconscious blonde laying on her, then she looked around. What she saw made her blood freeze. Luna and Artemis also froze in place.

"How are you still alive?" She demanded as she held Michiru closer, trying to shield her with her own body.

"It's a long story." He said as he stopped in front of Haruka. Michiru could see him now and began to sob all the harder. He would surely kill them both now. At least she would die in the arms of her lover. She couldn't feel those arms right now, but she knew Haruka held her tight.

Joram leaned over and touched Haruka on the head and she slumped over, sleeping soundly.

"What did you do to Haruka-papa?" The icy calm voice of Hotaru asked him. She would kill him on the spot if he had hurt her in any way.

"I put her to sleep." Joram said as he gently laid Haruka on the ground beside Minako. Michiru stopped her sobbing when she heard this. She tentatively opened one eye to see the demon Joram lay her lover down. He then turned to her and smiled. She couldn't help but stare deep into his eyes. His eyes looked too old for his youthful face, a face that looked a couple of years younger than her own. His eyes held a depthless wisdom that she had never seen before. And they were kind eyes, not those of a killer. She could see a strength of character in them that reminded her of Setsuna.

"Hold still. This will… tingle somewhat." He said as he picked her up and put her into a sitting position in front of where he now sat. She couldn't stop staring at his eyes for some reason.

Then she felt that tingling sensation that he just told her about. It was more like a severe case of the pins and needles you get when a limb gets it's flow of blood back after it has been cut off. She stifled a whimper and bit her lower lip as her eyes began to water. It was over in a matter of moments though, and she could now feel her body. Joram again smiled at her and stood up. Hotaru rushed over to her momma and gave her a big hug.

"Don't ever do that again Michiru-momma!" She said as she just about crushed her adoptive mother in a bear hug.

"Don't do what again?" She asked somewhat confused.

"Don't attack this man again." She said in all seriousness as she pulled away slightly. "Your attacks may be more powerful than his, but he is not someone to fight one on one." Joram raised an eyebrow at the part when she said that Michiru's attacks were more powerful, but said nothing. If this Hotaru could manage to get the two crazy Sailor Senshi to stop attacking him, he could ignore the insult for now.

"Have you met this man before?" Michiru asked in concern, looking her daughter in the eyes.

"No, but he is somewhat like me. He is linked to Katreen."

Michiru paled as what the girl said sank in. Most of Sailor Saturn's powers came directly from the goddess of death and life, so she was bonded to her. Almost like an avatar. If this man was bonded to Katreen, this could pose grave problems. Please, forgive the pun.

Michiru looked at the young man in front of her in a new light. A light that she really didn't like by the way. It frightened her a lot more than what Saturn could do, because she knew what Saturn was capable of. This man was a wild card. He could be capable of anything. But wait. Didn't Hotaru just say that his attackers were weaker than her own? If that was the case, then a couple of them could take him out if they worked together.

'Don't even think about it.' Joram's voice said from inside her head. She looked up in panic as she realized that he had read her thoughts. He was just looking at her with those depthless blue-green eyes of his. It seemed as though he could stare into her soul. 'I have no desire to continue useless fights with people that I should be working with and helping.'

'How can you do read my mind?' She thought furiously.

'It's just a little something I picked up along the way. So long as you are intelligent I can communicate with you.' The thoughts sent her way sounded tired. 'Now that I know that my goddess is here, I can be done with Tuxedo Kamen. You won't have to see me much after this.'

By the time the words had finished flowing into her mind Haruka began to stir. Michiru shot him a worried glance, but she felt reassurance coming from Joram in waves that seemed to say that she didn't have to worry about him attacking her.

Ami came over to scan everyone with her computer then. She had been getting some weird readings form Joram and she wanted to get them on record. All of the readings from just after she detected that he was dead to when the computer rebooted were gone. She didn't know how that had happened, but she was really angry about that. This was the first time someone had come back to life in front of her and all the readings just had to and get themselves mysteriously erased. Damn it she was angry!

"Let's get back inside. I would like to get some food into me before I pass out from hunger." Joram said melodramatically. Everyone just stared at him. Hotaru didn't know whether to laugh at him or smack him over the head. He had hurt her adoptive parents badly, but they were the ones who had started the fight with him in the first place. From what she had seen when she had arrived, he could have easily killed the two Senshi instead of trying to incapacitate them. His choosing to paralyze Michiru-momma instead of killing her was proof of that. That didn't mean she had to trust him though, even if they did serve the same mistress. Pout.

Everyone was still in one form of shock or another, but all agreed to head back inside. It looked as though it would start raining any second. Haruka stumbled along with the help of both Michiru and Hotaru, and the other two girls just followed along behind Joram. They still didn't know what to make of him. As for Luna and Artemis, they decided to head off so that they could sort out their thoughts and memories about the whole subject of Katreen. Once they had seen Joram walk back to them after being killed they remembered the significance of that black gem in his diadem. They really needed to do some brainstorming tonight.

Once inside the temple Joram could hear crying. That confused him somewhat, but he guessed that it was either Usagi or Rei. With Usagi's track record though he figured it was her. When he came around the corner to the main room he found that he had been mistaken. It was Rei that was crying into Usagi's lap while Usagi herself smoothed out Rei's hair as she stroked her back and said words that were meant to cheer up, consolidate, and encourage all at the same time.

"What's wrong?" Joram asked with some concern in his voice. Usagi looked up first. She turned as white as the ghost she thought she was seeing and fainted. The thump from Usagi hitting the floor made Rei look up to see what had happened. She first saw Usagi lying on the floor looking really pale. She then turned around to see Joram standing there as alive as they come. She blinked. Then blinked again because it hadn't worked the first time. Nope. Still there. Reaction number one from a Shinto priestess that thinks she is seeing a ghost: exorcize.

After pulling out a charm from one of her inner pockets she says a quick chant to activate it and lets fly. It hit Joram square in the forehead and stuck there like it was supposed to. Unfortunately for the poor Shinto priestess it didn't do what it was supposed to do after that. By the time Makoto and Ami come in while carrying an unconscious Minako, Joram is covered from the crown of his head to his sternum with paper charms.

"What's going on here Rei?" Ami asks while looking from what looked like a university bulletin board to her friend and back at the bulletin board. She realized that she was looking at Joram and burst out laughing. Boy did it feel good to laugh after such a high stress evening.

Rei pauses in her chant to stare at the crazy girl laughing. What was she doing? She then looked back at the ghost to see it starting to take off all of the wards and charms she had plastered it with. Damn, it must be strong to still be standing after all that!

"Rei, what are you doing?" Makoto asks her friend as she lays Minako down on the floor.

"Can't you see the ghost standing there?!" Rei exclaims flinging an arm to point at the ghost that had taken Joram's shape.

"He's not a ghost." Ami said at the same time Joram said: "I'm not a ghost."

Rei just took turns staring at her friend and the Joram shaped ghost. True, it wasn't acting very ghost-like at the moment, but that could just be a ruse to lull her into a sense of complacency.

"If you're not a ghost, then do something a ghost cant do." She said stubbornly.

"Like what?" He asked in exasperation.

"I don't know!" Rei said as she looked around for something the cheeky ghost couldn't possibly do. "I know. Eat the food on the table. Ghosts can't eat. So if you can eat I'll believe you." That made anyone still standing face fault.

Joram got up and made his way to the table with a huge grin on his face. If this was all that he had to do to prove that he wasn't a ghost, he would do it with full purpose of heart!

In the time it took for Rei to blink twice most of the food was gone from the table and going fast. It was amazing. The only other times that she has seen food disappear that fast was when Usagi had forgotten to grab a snack from home before coming to one of the Senshi meetings. Belatedly she remembered that the real Joram could pack away more food than Usagi and just as fast.

"Stop eating all the food already!" She yelled and smacked him over the head with her broom. She hadn't realized that she had grabbed it a couple of seconds ago from a subspace pocket.

"So, I'm not a ghost anymore?" Joram asked completely nonplused at having a broom on his head.

"Well, I did hit you with the broom...." Rei said as she contemplated the situation. "But how are you alive?"

"Again, long story." Joram said tiredly. "Now, if you all don't mind, I'm going to finish the work with Mamoru." He said as he made his way to the side room where he was stored.

"I thought that you had done all you could today?" Ami said as she approached.

"I did. But I now know that I have access to my clerical spells. I can finish this tonight." With that said he went through the door. The girls who were still conscious all looked at one another.

"He's not going to hurt him is he?" Michiru asked, now worried. If he had powers granted to him by Katreen, wouldn't they all be of the "Death" variety?

"No. He's not a cold blooded killer." Makoto said coldly. That shocked just about everyone in the room. It didn't surprise Ami that Makoto would take Joram's side. It was very obvious that she had a huge crush on him. Makoto then followed Joram into the side room.

Right after Makoto left the room Usagi began to stir. Ami and Rei went over to help her up. She was a bit unsteady on her feet for the first few seconds though.

"Ami-chan, I had the most unusual dream. You were there, and Rei and everybody else was too. But in my dream Joram was a ghost that came back to haunt us for letting Uranus kill him." Usagi sounded quite plaintive when she said this. She really didn't want Joram to haunt her for the rest of her days. Just the thought of that gave her goose bumps!

"Sorry Usagi, it wasn't a dream. Joram is actually alive though." She said quickly trying to forestall the torrent of tears that threatened to come forth from her friend.

"But how is he alive? I saw him die." Her bottom lip began to tremble.

"I don't know, but he is." It galled her to say that. She would have known if her computer hadn't lost all of its data!!

"He's not some sort of monster come back from the grave to eat our brains?" Her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Rei must have thrown fifty wards at him and they did nothing." Ami assured her. "He is fine. We came back to life before haven't we? We're not monsters are we?"

"No." Usagi said as she began to wail. "I'm so happy that he's not dead!!!" She then flung herself into Ami's arms and stayed there as she cried with joy.

Joram stood over Tuxedo Kamen. How he wished that a lot of the events that had transpired hadn't. Those two "Outer" Senshi wanted him dead. Sure, Neptune understood that he wasn't a direct threat to them, but wanted to get him out of the way just because he might be dangerous at some theoretical point in the future. Uranus just plain wanted him dead. She didn't need a reason, she just wanted to kill him.

He then asked himself a question he hadn't asked himself in over a century. Why me? Why did all the weird stuff have to happen to him? Why did people want to kill him when they found out he was different? He shook his head again as he heard someone enter the room behind him.

"Can you really heal him now?" Makoto asked sounding unsure if she should have asked.

"Yes. It will only take a few minutes. Just watch from over there while I work." Joram said as he pointed to the side of the room. Makoto obliged.

Joram once again found his center and focused. He weakened the stasis crystal enough so that it would dissipate completely within the next day. He then concentrated on his connection to Katreen that allowed him to use clerical spells. He found the one he was looking for and gave a mental "thank you" to Katreen as he came back to his surroundings. He then began to chant in a language long dead and forgotten.

Makoto held her breath as she watched Joram begin to glow silvery blue, his hair starting to move under the influence of a wind she could not feel. Then after a moment Tuxedo mask begins to glow a bright white. It is so bright that it is difficult to see him for several moments until the light fades again.

Joram then turns to her and smiles that great smile of his, the one that makes you feel better for having seen it, and better again for having it directed at her only. She turned to the door when she heard it open again and saw Usagi standing there looking at Tuxedo Kamen.

"Is he going to be all right?" She asked hesitantly.

"He'll be up and about by tomorrow evening." Joram said as he made his way over to her. "Now, miss princess." Usagi was somewhat shocked at being addressed so by someone who shouldn't know that she was a princess. "If you are in danger you may use this," Joram said as he bit his thumb to draw blood across his thumb and then performed a complex series of hand seals and muttered "Kuchiyose no Jutsu". There was a puff of smoke and a bracelet that looked like a dragon touching its own tail made of bronze appeared. It looked as though the eyes were made of amber. The detail was exquisite. "to call me." He said as he handed it to her.

"It's wonderful!" Usagi squealed as she got a beautiful piece of jewellery handed to her. "But how do I call you with this? Is there a communicator inside?" She said as she inspected it up close.

"Communicator?" Joram tasted the unfamiliar word. "Ah, no. All you need to do for it to work is to rub its head and tell it to find "Stormborn". It won't take long after that for me to arrive. Now, if it's not a life threatening emergency you can contact me by calling the Ucchan restaurant in Nerima. The owner is going to help me set up my own business." Joram said then started to head for the door.

"Do you have a place to sleep yet?" Makoto asked as she blushed slightly.

"Not yet, no." Joram said simply.

"If you want, you can, uh stay at my place until, uh, we find you one." Makoto said as she blushed like fire. She sure hoped that he didn't think she was being too forward with him.

That stopped Joram in his tracks. Someone was being nice to him without asking for something in return. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"No, that would be fine. I live on my own so it would be nice to have the company." She was still blushing furiously. Usagi came back to reality long enough to hear what her friend was saying.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind staying with you Mako-chan." She said with an impish smile and a nudge to her ribs.

Joram added one plus one and actually got two.

"Not like that!" He exclaimed at the same time a Makoto. That shout brought Rei, Minako and Ami to the door.

"Not like what?" Minako asked. The others had filled her in on the details of what had happened to Joram. She still didn't get it, but that didn't mean that she couldn't flirt with the new cute guy in town.

"Nothing." Joram said trying to turn back to a normal shade of colour. "I'm just going to sleep there, nothing else."

"Sleep where?" Rei asked, her hand twitching to her broom. Joram noticed this and slid behind Usagi.

"At my place." Makoto replied. "It will be easier to help him find his own place if he is nearby."

The three newcomers just nodded. One was insanely jealous, another wanted to dissect him, and the last one wanted to pummel him for hitting on her friend and not bothering with her. She wouldn't even think about going out with him, but it still hurt her pride that he hadn't even bothered to flirt with her.

"Well, I think the meeting if over for tonight. Why don't we head out Joram?" Makoto said as she took his arm and led him to the door.

"Sounds good. I don't want that Haruka girl attacking me anymore this evening." Joram said as he followed her out the room past the three girls standing there.

In the main room Michiru still sat with Haruka in her arms with Hotaru leaning on her other shoulder. They looked quite peaceful and happy until they saw Joram. Well, until Michiru saw him anyway. Hotaru didn't seem to care that he was there, but Michiru gave him a mistrusting stare. It wasn't as hostile as it was earlier in the evening, but it could still curdle milk.

Haruka turned to regard him with pure hatred it her eyes. Joram just returned the look with a calm one of his own; he even gave a small smile of reassurance. It didn't seem to work though because she didn't waver in the slightest.

Joram gave a mental shrug and continued on his way. Soon enough they were saying their good-byes at the front door.

"I'll come by tomorrow to fix the damage to the shrine." Joram said as his farewell. Rei just looked at him and wondered how on earth how would manage that.

"I'll see you when I get back from school then." Joram gave a wave in response to that and headed off with Makoto. They walked in silence for a time; Joram enjoying the relative quiet of the night, and Makoto enjoying the walk with Joram.

After a while Joram spoke up. "Thanks for letting me stay with you until I find my own place."

"No problem. Like I said, I will enjoy the company." She replied happily. It was rare to find a guy that was as tall as she, and even more rare for him not to be intimidated by her. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was slightly intimidated by him. Not because she thought he would hurt her or do something bad to her; but because he was just plain stronger than her. Stronger than Sailor Uranus even. It was true that Hotaru said that his magical attacks were weaker than Uranus's attacks, but he could have easily won had she not started to use magic. She found that she really wanted this guy to teach her how to fight better.

"So, uh, is there some way I could repay you for letting me stay at your place?" Joram asked. He really didn't like owing people something.

"No. You will be my guest. You won't have to do anything except cleaning up after yourself."

"Ah. Hmm. Maybe I could do the cooking? I had gotten fairly good when I stayed at Andairia for a few years."

"Sure, if you want to. That'll give me more time to do my homework." She said happily. Joram smiled when he heard this. He wouldn't just be leaching off her kindness! He could help do something!

They walked in silence for the rest of the walk. It wasn't too far, only a fifteen minute walk. Joram couldn't believe how large these buildings were in this age. This one must have been over fifteen stories high. When they got inside Makoto stopped in front of some metal doors and pushed a button. It began to glow. This was just amazing to a technologically ignorant Joram. He watched as a lighted display above the doors changed characters every few seconds. Then there was an odd sound from behind the doors and he heard a sort of "bing" sound. The doors slid open of their own accord and Makoto entered the small room beyond.

The doors started to close as Joram watched. Makoto noticed him standing there and pushed the open door button to keep them from closing. "What are you waiting for? Get in."

Joram looked around then complied. The doors closed behind him and they started to move.

"This is an odd sensation."

"What is?"

"It feels like we are moving upwards." Joram said.

"Well of course we are. We're in an elevator."

"Elevator?" Again, another word that tasted odd in his mouth.

"Don't tell me you haven't been in an elevator yet?" She said in disbelief. Where _had_ this guy grown up?

"Actually, no."

"What am I going to do with you?" She asked more to herself than to him. Joram just stood there waiting for her to say something directly to him.

The elevator thingy seemed to stop and there was another "bing" type sound as the doors opened up. Makoto walked out and turned to the left. He hurried after her this time. He really didn't want to be stuck in that thing alone.

She walked down the hall past several doors before she came to a halt before the left one at the end of the hall. She took her keys out and opened the door.

"Sorry, it's only made for one person, so it might be a little small." She said as she took her shoes off at the front entryway. Joram did likewise, though it took him a little while to get his knee high leather boots off. Once done he followed after Makoto as she showed him her place. The living room was sparsely decorated with a couch, comfortable arm chair, some shelves and a low table. The kitchen was something of a sight though for our poor hero.

First thing he noticed was how shiny everything was. Then he noticed that he had no idea what most of the things in there were. She showed him the wonderful Refrigerator that kept food either cool or frozen. She showed him the stove that had plated on is that heated up depending on which switches were turned. There were things called a toaster, blender, and a microwave. She then showed him how to use each of these wonderful items. He picked it all up quite quickly though, for he was a natural with gadgets. He was relieved when he saw something as normal as a block of knives though. A kitchen wouldn't be a kitchen without a normal set of knives.

She then showed him to the bathroom. She showed him how to use the toilet, still assuming that he had no idea how to use most things in a normal twentieth century home. There was this machine that both washed and dried your clothes all at once. It was amazing! The shower was something that he was somewhat familiar with. Well, the concept anyway. He was amazed though that there was a supply of hot water that came out. He was used to cold water.

Makoto was having a blast the whole time she showed him around. She had not seen this kind of wondering expression on anyone's face before. Well, not someone his age anyway.

"Now, this is my bedroom. If you wish to speak with me, knock first. Don't ever come in without knocking first, ok?" She asked him seriously, not wanting him to come in on her when she was changing of something.

"Sure. That's just common courtesy after all." Joram said as he shrugged his heavy shoulders. Makoto blushed slightly as she imagined those shoulders again when he had his shirt off. He was built like a god.

"Anyways," She said hurriedly, "Here is a bedroll and pillow for you to sleep on. You will have to sleep on the living room floor. Goodnight." She said as she pushed the bundle of bedding into his arms and closed her door as quickly as she could. Joram blinked twice, shrugged and went to the living room and laid his bedroll out for sleep. As he lay down he remembered something very important. Well, a couple of some things.

He performed a couple of jutsu and muttered something. Another poof of smoke appeared and he was again looking at himself.

"You had better go and find the things you dropped when I died."

"Why do I have to do it?" Number two complained. "I'm just as tired as you are."

"Because you're the clone and I'm the original. You fetch things while I do other things." Joram said while he was taking off his bracers and shin guards.

"Whatever." Number two said almost pouting. He made his way over to the window and studied it for a second before opening it. He then turned back to number one and said: "Try not to fall asleep before I get back. I don't want to make another trip." With that said he jumped out the window.

"Cocky punk." Joram muttered to himself as he made his way to the bathroom. Makoto stuck he head out of her room.

"Were you just talking to someone?" She asked in a slightly worried tone of voice.

"Just to myself." He said tiredly. She gave him a weird look but went back into her room with no further comment. Joram sighed yet again and did his business in the bathroom. He loved the fact that water was so readily available. He then took out a twig that he normally used to scrub at his teeth as well as the salt and soda. It was a habit from his youth. He really didn't have to do it these days, because he never got any toothaches. He supposed it had something to do with his ability to regenerate these days.

After taking a shower, shaving for the first time in a couple of days and brushing out his hair Joram made his way to the living room. He was wearing a towel around his waist as he carried his clothes in his arms. He gave a start as he realized his clone was already back with the things it had managed to purchase before he had poofed away upon his death.

"Happy now?" Number two sulked. He had really wanted to get cleaned up as well.

"Yes, yes. Thank you very much for doing what I created you to do." Joram said sarcastically as he went through the new items. There were several dark shirts, a bright one with green, blue and red flowers, several pairs of black pants (cargo style), some new black socks, underwear, and three coats. One was a shorter brown coat (bomber style), and the other two were black and long enough to come to the ankle.

"Wow, you sure worked fast." Joram said as he picked up and inspected the flowery shirt. "But what's with this shirt?"

"The lady said it was a Hawaiian shirt and that it would look great on me." Number two said from the couch.

At that moment Makoto came around the corner looking like she was about to say something. The look was replaced by utter shock when she saw two Jorams in her living room, one in nothing but a towel. She then got a weird look on her face. My wish must have come true, she thought to herself, there are two of them now.

"I, uh, ah..." Joram said as intelligently as he could. He looked at his clone and gave a small wave of the hand. The clone sighed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What was that?" She asked while staring a him.

"Well, that was just a clone I make when I have to do a few things at one." Joram said as he shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. She seemed to realize that she had been staring at Joram for several moments. She turned an even brighter shade of red and spun about. _Two_ of them! She thought to herself.

"Yeah, ah, I had had the clone do some shopping while I went to the shrine. He kinda' disappeared when I died, so I had him get the stuff he had dropped." Joram explained as he pulled on a pair of boxers under his towel, then some pants.

"Oh, uh, so that was why you said that you were talking to yourself earlier?" She half asked, half said. This guy was just full of surprises.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you like that." Joram said as he took the now useless towel and hung it around his neck. His hair was still wet so the towel served to keep the water from dripping onto the floor.

"No problem. Just, ah, tell me when there is more than one of you around. I don't want to do something embarrassing in front of one of you." She said. "I'm gonna grab a shower before I go to bed. Night." She said as she headed back down the hall to the bathroom.

Joram let out a sigh of relief. She had reacted better than that one lady had when she found five of him sparring out behind her inn. He still felt sorry for that lady.

With that thought in mind he put his dirty clothes into a sack he pulled out of his shoulder satchel and tossed it in the corner. He then laid down to get some well deserved sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was a nice dream. He had his own weapon smithy just outside of town. He had a beautiful with that cared for him greatly; he even had two children with a third on the way. He hoped this one would be a boy. He adored his daughters and taught them well, but it just wasn't the same as having a son that he could raise to take over the family business.

After a long day of work he went over to the house to visit with his wife as she made dinner. She scolded him for bringing his smelly self into the house before she kissed him. She then sent him off to take a bath, joking that he could stop a troll at twenty yards with his stink. He smiled at her and stole another kiss before leaving the kitchen to go get a bath. He went through the kitchen door-

And found himself in a grey landscape with his memories returning to him. He turned around to find that his dream was now gone. He sighed. When he again turned around he found that he was in front of the all too familiar city surrounded by the all too familiar wall. Why couldn't she just bring him directly to her? Shaking his head he headed into the city.

It didn't take him long to get to his destination for time and distance meant very little in this place. He walked into the large chamber where he had first sat and talked with Katreen. She was there once again, wearing her long black dress and that beautiful necklace with the black gems. She turned as he came in and smiled a stunning smile. He really hadn't thought of her as a beautiful woman since he had first met her. But now he again recalled that she really was quite stunning.

"Sorry to disturb your peaceful dreams Joram, but I wish to speak with you." She said as she motioned him to sit on a couch meant for two.

"Sure. What about?" Joram asked as he sat down. She then sat beside him and turned so she could regard him without having to turn her head at an uncomfortable angle.

"I wish to tell you of the things that have transpired since you disappeared." She said as she began her story. She told him of the rise and fall of many nations, of the major earthquakes that had come and wiped out most of the civilizations that had developed in his time, and how most of the magical races and creatures had left this plane. Of how the elves had left the earth behind to return to their mythical home, and how the dwarves, gnomes and halflings had also left this world that was no longer hospitable to them.

She told him of how the continents had been shattered and reformed into the masses they were today. She told him of the rise of the Moon Kingdom from where the Sailor Senshi hailed from and how it had fallen.

She continued the story of how the major civilizations of several thousand years ago had influenced the world of today and how they had developed their technology to replace the magic that had been lost to the world. She explained the decline in people who were born with a predisposition to do magic and how that power was weaker and weaker when one did finally show up.

As she spoke he could see the images in his mind of what she was telling him. He wept for the beauty that was lost to the world when said Moon Kingdom had fallen. He saw as the remaining humans rebuilt their disperse cities and began to once again thrive in their remote countries. He saw the rise and fall of Alexander the Great's empire, the Egyptians, Persia, Israel, the Romans and many others as they rose and fell from might.

He then saw the rise of the Americas and how it changed the world. He saw the Chinese and their great empire and how they both thrived and suffered. He saw the history of the Japanese people and how they had fought so frequently amongst themselves for honour, glory, or greed. He saw that theme repeating itself over and over throughout the history of the world and wondered to himself how they couldn't see that pattern of destruction. How foolish were they to repeat the same mistakes of the past.

At length she finished her long and sad tale. He sat there reflecting on what she had both told and shown him for quite some time. He came out of his reflections of the past with a start when Katreen laid her hand on his.

"And through all that time I couldn't forget you Joram. I was filled with a grief far beyond anything I had yet felt. You wouldn't believe how many millennia I searched for you, hoping that you were out there somewhere." She said and then laughed a gentle, musical laugh. "I didn't think that you might have been "some-when" instead of somewhere." Joram couldn't help but grin at that and at the expression on her face.

"Well, I'm glad someone missed me." Joram said with a smile.

"I missed you this much." She said as she raised her arms and pulled him close into a passionate kiss. A couple of minutes later she released him with a sigh. She continued to lean against his chest as he caught his breath.

"Ah, I, uh…." Joram stammered when he could once again breathe normally. He then tried desperately to change the subject. "So, uh, how do you know that girl from earlier in the evening? You know; the one with the short black hair, about sixteen?"

"Ah. That would be Tomoe Hotaru, also known as Sailor Saturn." Katreen mused. "If you would like to know how I know her, you could ask her yourself. That would be a good way to get to know her better. That would also be a good way to get to know Haruka and Michiru better as well. Haruka may have a hot temper, is both paranoid and somewhat irrational at times, but she does try hard to do her duty to the Kingdom and her Princess."

"Great, just what I need. Anyway, what about that Michiru girl? She, at least, seemed less hostile once Hotaru spoke with her."

"That's true, but she may still try and kill you more permanently." She said with her musical laugh. "I might have my work cut out for me if that is the case."

"Gee, thanks for the show of confidence." Joram grumped. "Do I really have to get to know them better?" Joram asked, almost pleaded.

"No, but it would help to not have them trying to kill you every time they see you. Well, I digress. You need to get your sleep, and I have some work to do. There was this young lady that you had met earlier in the day that was just hit by a truck. She just arrived a few moments ago."

"Who?" Joram asked with a sense of dread.

"Her name is Ukyou-"

"Where is she?!" He asked as he jumped to his feet.

"Ah, this again." She said with a small smile as she touched his forehead just below the diadem. He got a flash of where she was still rolling over and over on the road after being hit by a large truck. It wasn't far from her restaurant.

"I have to go. She helped me and now I have to help her." Joram said with a pleading tone.

"Then I'll not send her on to a new life. Go with all speed before someone has a chance to check her." He heard those last words through a fog that had arisen around them. Then he woke up.

Jumping up in his boxer-briefs, Joram grabbed his Dragon Silk armour and his shoulder satchel and jumped out the still open window. He realized that they were a good eighty feet up as he plummeted to the ground. Before he hit the ground he performed another jutsu. There came a whirlwind out of nowhere to grab him up and drop him on top of a building a good two hundred yards away. He then channelled some more chakra and was off at an incredible speed. It only took him another five minutes to reach the location of the accident at those speeds. He was also very happy that Makoto's apartment wasn't that far from Nerima.

When he got there he found that the truck had taken off and left Ukyou's broken body behind. He landed without as much as a whisper beside her prone form. He then knelt down beside her and looked at her closely. It looked as though she had been hit completely by surprise by the way she was sprawled out. She was already growing cold.

He quickly found his center and the connection to Katreen that allowed him to do certain things as though they had been a part of him since birth. One of those things was the ability to resurrect someone from the dead. As he laid his hands on her head he released the energy needed. They were both surrounded by a radian silvery-white light that shone brightly enough to illuminate the street as though it were day. Briefly there were blue sparks that could be seen floating around the two people on the sidewalk as what looked like a third appeared in the air above the one laying down. It then descended and merged with the on laying down. The lights then winked out.

Slowly Ukyou's eyes fluttered open. She gave him a confused look that seemed to ask: "Why am I laying on the sidewalk?" Joram grinned down at her as he helped her sit up.

"What am I doing here?" She finally managed to ask.

"You had an accident. I just so happened to be walking by when it happened so I stopped and healed you." Joram lied. She seemed to believe it, then got an odd look on her face.

"I remember a beautiful woman in black telling me to be patient." She said as though she were trying to remember a dream. "She said that you were coming to get me."

"Really," Joram started to sweat. "She didn't happen to mention her name, did she?"

Ukyou concentrated for a moment but finally wound up shaking her head. "No, she didn't mention her name. But who was she? Do you know her?"

Joram really hated lying. It had been really hard just to tell her that she had only had an accident instead of telling her that she had been dead only moments before. He then tried to lie again. "I was just joking around. You know, a beautiful woman in a dream seems to know who I am, so why not try and get her name?"

Now she gave him an odd look. He wasn't sure she believed the poor lie. She then shook her head and stood up with Joram following suit.

"Are you feeling well enough to walk?" Joram asked with some concern in his voice.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. I'll be all right sugar." She said as she looked all the way up at him. He was much taller than Ranchan. "You know? You look good with your hair down." She said.

"Oh, ah thanks. I guess I forgot to tie it up before I left." Joram said nervously as he swept his hair out of his face by running his hand up his face, over his head, then down his neck. He reached into his shoulder satchel and pulled out a blue ribbon that was so dark it almost looked black in the poor lighting of the street, and tied his hair back into his usual high ponytail.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Joram asked once he was done with his hair.

"Yeah, that would be nice." She said as she turned towards home. It only took them ten minutes to arrive at her place, which just so happened to be her restaurant. Joram said a polite good-bye and made his leave. Ukyou stood there watching him go and wondered why he had been out for a walk without any footwear. She shook her head and chalked it up to his oddness and went inside. She wondered though, what the chances were that he had just been walking by at the right time to help her, and why she didn't feel like she had been hit by a truck like he said she'd been.

"But it's not light out yet Jirin...." Joram mumbled as Makoto tried to poke him awake.

"If you don't get up soon you'll miss breakfast." Makoto teased. The combination of it being both a threat to go without breakfast and a female voice woke him up fast. For a brief moment he wondered where he was, then realized he was at Makoto's place with a wave of relief. Not knowing where you are when you awoke was very disorienting and disturbing.

"I'm up, I'm up!!" Joram said as he jumped to his feet. Makoto both grinned and blushed a wee bit when she saw that he was wearing boxer-briefs; and filling them out quite nicely. Joram, of course, was completely oblivious to the fact that Makoto was drooling slightly and hurried to pull on some pants. It wasn't polite to go to breakfast in one's undergarments.

Makoto cleared her throat as she tried very hard to block certain thoughts out of her mind. "Well, I've got to head off to school now. You can have my key to get in and out of the building. I won't be getting back until after five or so, so feel free to head out for a while." She handed him the keys as he sat down at the table that she used to eat her meals at.

"Ah, no need to worry about that; I can use the window." Joram said as he ate. Now that he was eating more regularly he didn't have to eat near as much food. That and he wasn't' doing anything that would require him to eat tonnes of food to keep him fuelled up.

"The window." She said blankly.

"Yeah, I can just head out the window if I need to head out." Joram said simply as he finished up breakfast.

"It might be better if you did use the door, I don't want to attract too much attention." She said as she sweat-dropped.

"Ah, forgot 'bout that." Joram said sheepishly. "I know! I could walk you to school and that way I could pick you up after school so that there won't be a chance of us missing each other."

"Sure." Was all she could manage as she imagined the other girls at school seeing her with this hunk of a guy.

"I'll go get my stuff then." Joram said as he tried to figure out that look on her face. At length he just dismissed it as her being anxious to get to school. He quickly tossed his new clothes in his satchel, rolled up the bedroll, and got the rest of the way dressed. He was especially sure to put on his Dragon Silk armour. Who knew when some idiot, freak or monster would attack?

As he was putting on his boots Makoto noticed the time. "Oh no!! I'm going to be late!!!" She yelled as she dashed out the door. Joram quickly hopped to and locked the door behind him. He turned in time to see the doors of the elevator close after Makoto. He quickly looked around for the stairs that she had mentioned last night. He saw a door that was marked with a person on stairs and b-lined it. He opened the door and sped down the stairs so fast it seemed as though he were flying. He landed on what he hoped was the main floor and looked out the door. Nope. Must be another one down. Next floor.

_Ah, there she is_. Joram thinks to himself as he catches a glimpse of her running out the front door. He sprints out and catches up to her easily. "I thought I lost you there for a minute." He said in jest.

"I'm so sorry!" Makoto says as she blushes and looks abashed. "I just can't be late anymore this month or my teacher is going to kill me."

"That wouldn't be good." Joram said as he ran along beside her, hardly noticing the pace. They ran for the next ten or fifteen minutes or so at full tilt until Makoto had to drop the pace slightly because she was getting winded.

"Are we going to be on time?" He asked from her side.

"No." She said miserably as she panted along. She just wasn't used to sprinting to school like Usagi was.

"Well, why don't you hop on?" Joram said motioning to his back. She just about tripped flat on her face. "No? Well, uh...." Joram thought for a moment. Makoto jumped as he abruptly smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I have a bloody flying carpet!" He muttered to himself as he reached into his satchel and pulled out a very fine looking throw rug.

"A what?" She couldn't believe it. A flying carpet. This guy was just full of surprises wasn't he?

"A flying carpet." Joram said happily now that he finished berating himself for having forgotten about it the night before. He then came to a halt that forced Makoto to stop as well and threw the carpet outward while holding one end. It snapped open and hovered on the ground. It looked big enough to hold about four people. "Get on." Joram said as he hopped on. Makoto, not wanting to waste anymore time, did so. She then had to throw her arms around Joram as the carpet took off like a bullet.

"This is great!" She yelled into the wind as they rose above the houses. Joram just grinned and steered it in the direction she pointed in. It didn't take long for them to get to the school after that, they even got there while people were still trickling into the school. He landed outside the gate as Usagi almost flew past them in her hurry to get to class. Several students had stopped to stare at the odd couple as they got off the carpet

"When does school finish?" Joram asked as he re-rolled the carpet and put it in his bag.

"At three." She said as she gave him a huge grin. "Maybe we can take another ride after." She said then bolted to class. Joram stood there for a few minutes as he tried to commit the area to memory so that he could make his way back here when Makoto finished. He was distracted as he noticed some repetitive movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to see Usagi waving at him from one of the windows on the third floor. He grinned to himself as he caught the glint of bronze coming off her wrist in the morning light. He waved back at her and headed off down the street by foot. No need to start more people than he already had....

He was in a shop that sold clocks, lots of clocks. They even had really small ones that you could strap to your wrist. That was something he really had to look into. How could they make the parts that small? The little hands turned across the faces of various watches and he began to memorize the characters on the watch faces. There were others that had some means of making the numbers appear as they told the time. A kind lady who worked at the store explained it all to him when she saw that he looked completely lost. He gave her a nod and a grin of thanks as he continued looking through the store. He didn't notice the hungry look she gave him as he wondered through the store. It was better that way.

At length he decided upon a pocket watch. It was cased in silver with gold inlays; the interior had a crystal face and several diamonds to show where the hours were instead of numbers. It also had a long silver chain that went along with it, presumably so that one would notice if a thief tried to run off with it.

"Is that the one you wish to purchase sir?" Another one of the employees asked him. He looked up to see a very pretty lady smiling at him. He blinked.

"Uh, yes. I'll take that one ma'am." Joram said as he straitened up. He realized that he wasn't dressed very well compared to the rest of the clientele in the store. They all had on rather expensive looking clothes, while he was dressed in cargo pants, knee high boots, and baggy shirt. Then again, he guessed that his diadem had once again come in handy. She didn't seem to be looking at him in that condescending manner that high end merchants give poor people who wonder into their establishments. "How much?"

She blinked at him, looked at the display case, and looked back at the man in front of her. Was he mocking her? "That one would cost one hundred and twenty thousand yen sir."

Joram did a couple quick calculations in his head and grinned. "Wow, that's not bad at all." He said with a grin (that was becoming quite famous amongst the people that had seen it so far) that exuded cheeriness. The poor girl never knew what hit her; she smiled back at him in total shock. This man was gorgeous!

Joram then proceeded to pull out three stacks of bills and handed them to her. Well more took her hand and placed the money in it. That was enough to snap her out of her daydreams with a blush and a stammered apology. She then hurried around the counter and into the back room. She returned moments later with a box in her hand. She then motioned him to go to the till with her and punched in his purchase. "Now this watch's spring will be reset every time you open then close the cover. This will keep it going for seven days; so if you don't use it very often be sure to reset the time before you need to use it." She explained while showing him the watch up close. This was absolutely amazing. He must find out how it works!!

"It also has a limited life time warranty." She was saying.

"Limited?" Joram asked in some confusion.

"Yes, it will cover any defects due to manufacturer's defects, but not tampering with." She added as she saw the look in his beautiful eyes that seemed to say the watch was as good as spare parts if he so much as opened the back of the watch.

"Ah." Joram was disappointed. He had really wanted to take it apart to see how it worked.

"You may mail in the warranty information in the next thirty days if you don't have time today." She said/asked.

"Ah, I think that I may just have to mail it in. I'm in a bit of a hurry." Joram said as he laughed nervously. The clerk nodded and packed up all of the information into a bag that was made of some sort of weird material. He stopped her from putting the watch away though.

"I kinda' need something to keep track of the time you see." He said sheepishly. She smiled at him as she quickly set his watch to the right time. She then handed it to him along with his change and wished him a great day. Joram waved on his way out of the store and wondered around the "mall" for a time.

He noticed how people dressed and interacted with one another because of their clothing, hair cuts and so on. He spent a great deal of the morning studying people as they wandered around and spoke with one another in the food court of the mall. He noticed that the guys in those uncomfortable looking jackets and white shirts with different coloured strips of material tied around their necks seemed to be in the most hurry, and got the most respect. Maybe he needed to change his style somewhat? With a nod to himself he finished his food and went in search of a clothing store. Sure his Dragon Silk armour could change into any style of clothing he wanted, but he needed something to wear other than his armour.

It took him all of five minutes of searching before he found what looked like a tailor. He inspected the clothing critically before he entered the shop. Not like he knew what good sewing was like if it came up and bit him in the but....

A well dressed man came up to him and introduced himself then proceeded to show him the various styles they had for sale. During that time the tailor took his measurements then gave a sigh of resignation. He informed Joram that they had no suits, that's what he called them anyway, in anywhere near his size. So Joram inquired if he knew of a good tailor that could make him a suit in his size. This made the poor man think for a minute. It looked like it hurt him to do so. Finally he gave him the name of the place, Armani's, and instructions on how to get there. Joram thanked the helpful fellow and headed out.

It took him an hour to find the place. It was in Ich, the district between Juban and Nerima (author's note: it's my story, I'll make it up as I go; pls don't kill me.). It was a long and fairly narrow district from what he could tell from the map on the corner of the road. The shop in question was not particularly large, but very expensive looking. The interior design was something Joram hadn't experienced yet, and was still deciding if he liked when a very superficial looking woman approached him. She looked to be sizing him up to the copper. Her eyes stayed on his diadem for a moment longer than the rest of him and he could tell that its presence confused her somewhat. He wasn't terribly well dressed yet he had on an expensive looking piece of jewellery.

"How may I help you today?" He noticed the lack of honorific. So, she was just going to see how he reacted did she?

"I am looking for a tailor to do some work for me." He said as he looked around. He could tell that she was somewhat surprised that he spoke Japanese so well; he did look caucasian after all. "I was told that I could get something more to my size here." Joram finished as he finally regarded her. He put on his best authoritative air, wanting to see what her reaction would be. It wasn't what he wanted, but she did seem to re-evaluate him more closely.

"That is not a problem, we have many suits that would be able to fit a man of your stature. If I may?" She asked as she took a measuring tape from a pocket to take his measurements. After a couple of moments she was done and motioning him to follow along. She took him to one of the far corners to inspect a few suits over there. "What kind of price range are you looking for?" She asked while checking some of the tags.

"Money is not an issue." Joram said as he inspected a few of the suits. From the corner of his eye he noticed as both her eyebrows shot up and was barely able to conceal a grin as he placed his hand over his mouth pretending to think about his purchase. "I'm not particular on some of these cuts. Is it possible to have something custom made?" He asked as he turned to regard the lady that was becoming a little more friendly at the though of money.

"Yes, but that would cost much more that just purchasing one of the pre-made suits." She explained.

"Remember? Money: not a problem." Joram said and began describing how he would like a suit coat made. It was to fit fairly well around the torso and come down past the hips. Around the shoulders it would flare out a wee bit so that he could have full range of motion with his arms. It would also button up along the right side up to near the collar bones. It wound up taking another hour or so of him sketching out a design and going over what kind of materials he wanted for the coats. Near the end of the session the lady was giving him more respect. Especially when he said he wanted eight of them made. The trousers would be made of the same material and colour of course; and there would also be two pairs to each coat. Then came time to tally up how much it would cost.

"So, going by the time it should take to make each coat, the materials involved," she said as she quickly pushed buttons on a small box like thing, "It will cost five point five million yen." She said as she looked at him for a reaction. Joram on the other hand was making some more calculations in his head. Sixty some odd gold pieces. Joram's eyebrow arched briefly when he came up with the sum then just shrugged.

"How's ten percent right now?" Joram asked as he reached into his satchel and started to pull out stacks of bills. It was her turn to react. She raised her eyebrows at the amount of money that Joram carried around with him.

"That should be fine. I would like you to come in the day after tomorrow to do another fitting to make sure that they fit well." She said with a smile.

"When do you think they will be done for?" He asked as he finished fishing out the tenth stack of bills from his shoulder satchel.

"They should be ready by the end of next week barring any unforeseen circumstances." She said with a smile.

"I'll be looking forward to it." Joram said with his usual grin. "I'll see you the day after tomorrow then."

"Oh, what is your name sir?" She asked as he was heading for the door.

"Joram." He said then turned and left. He was going to have to find a bank somewhere. He took out the watch that he had bought that morning an took a look at the time. Two forty three.

"Ah, crap!" He said as he sped off down the street, startling several people along the way. He dashed down an alley and looked around. Nobody was around. Good. He then jumped off one building to another then onto the first building's roof. From there he took off like a bat out of hell. Some would say that he almost flew through the air instead of jumping from rooftop to rooftop at insane speeds. And so it was that he was only three minutes late when he arrived at the school.

He didn't even bother to jump down into an alley so as not to scare anybody when got there; he just jumped off the four story building across from Juban High, flipped a couple of times, and landed in front of the gates (with a short skid/slide as his boots tried to get a grip) as Makoto, Ami and Usagi got there. Said girls just stared at him, having seen him jump from where he had and land in front of them without injury. The other people weren't as fortunate to have seen the whole thing. To them it seemed as though he just dropped out of the sky. One fainted and four others bolted for their lives, afraid that he was another monster come to suck their energy away.

"Sorry!" Joram said as he pulled out his watch. "Three minutes late!"

"...."

"...."

"...."

Joram waved a hand in front of their faces. Had they fainted with their eyes open while still on their feet? A few girls gathered around to meet this new hunk of a guy that Makoto knew. The rumours had been flying around school faster than they had sped through the sky on the magic carpet that morning. Did Makoto finally have a boyfriend? Was he a prince from a far off land (that was asked because of the diadem he wore)? Somehow the rumour had spread that he was staying at her apartment and even more questions and rumours flew around. As the gathered girls realized that this was the guy from the day's gossip, they spread the news like wildfire.

So by the time the three girls recovered they had gathered quite a gathering.

"What? Why? How did you do that?" Makoto finally stammered out.

"Oh, the jump? That was simple enough. So, how was your day?" He asked with yet another grin. Why was he grinning so much? He hadn't grinned this much since before he had left X'atur. He gave a mental shrug and put that though off for later.

"Fine." Was all the three of them combined could think of besides that impossible jump he had just performed. How had he done that?!

"Ok then." Joram said as he ushered the girls to start them walking. All those other people (girls) staring at him had started to make him nervous. He had never really been good with crowds. "So, what would you like to do tonight Makoto?" Joram said as they walked in the general direction of her apartment with the other two girls in tow.

"We can take you to the Crown Arcade!" Usagi squealed as she started to bounce around in excitement. Joram just about got a cavity from the super sweet look she give them all when she stopped bouncing to try and convince Ami and Makoto to come along.

"Well there isn't a meeting tonight," Ami said thoughtfully, "I don't see why it would be a problem." Usagi beamed so brightly that it hurt to look at her directly. Joram briefly wondered if that was some sort of technique she had learned somewhere, then let the thought drop when he realized that she had absolutely no chakra control what-so-ever.

"That sounds like fun!" Makoto said as she walked closely to Joram, even taking his arm a little ways down the block.

"We shouldn't be too long though, because Tuxedo Kamen will be waking up tonight." Ami reminded Usagi. That seemed to dim the blonde enough to the point where it was now safe to regard her directly without burning your retinas.

"I'll see you guys later!" Usagi yelled as she suddenly took off towards the shrine. She was soon a speck on the horizon with dust trailing after her.

"I can't even run that fast." Joram said completely stunned. Usagi never ceased to amaze him one way or another. In this case though it was the "another" category. Sigh.

"Well, let's get going!" Makoto said as she took Joram's arm and dragged him off with Ami following, feeling like the third wheel.

Once there Joram stood in shock. "What enchantment this place has...."

"It's amazing isn't it?" Makoto said as she proceeded to drag him into their favourite arcade. By this time the only reason Ami was still there was the prospect of studying Joram some more. With Makoto distracting him, it seemed like she might get some good readings.

Makoto explained how the whole process worked to our clueless hero. How you put a bill into that machine by the door to get coins that you would then have to put into the slot of the machine you wanted to play. You would then have to use that stick in combination with the buttons to make the really small person in the machine to do what you wanted them to do. All in all, a lot less complicated than performing jutsu. He was now able to make that Magneto guy do some very nasty combinations. Unfortunately that Spiderman guy was really fast, so he had to be very careful.

Makoto was having lots of fun watching as Joram really started to get into playing Marvel Superheroes. After a short while she decided to join in and teach him how to really play. Eventually a small crowd began to gather to watch them duke it out. Joram spent much money combating Psylocke under the control of Makoto. Eventually though he managed to win one. A little while later he won another. Soon they were fighting one another until the time limit was up, which frustrated many people because the one or the other player would sometimes be making a comeback and the time limit would interrupt them. After a while though Ami had gotten all the readings she needed from Joram. Or rather, all the readings she could get from him playing video games. He was very smart and adapted to new situations quickly, but it seemed that video games weren't going to be his forte if he could only get up to Makoto's skill level when playing. After all, Ami could beat Makoto when they played against each other.

At the conclusion of yet another lost battle, Joram stood up from the stool and stretched. "Wow, that is an amazing game. But now I'm hungry. You guys want to come and get something to eat with me?"

"Sorry, I would love to, but I've got to study tonight before I go to bed." Ami said apologetically.

"Why don't we stop by the store and pick up some food? That way we can cook something and relax this evening?" Makoto suggested. If he could sample her cooking there would be no way he would want to move out. Little did she know, but she was blushing while small horns appeared on her head and her eyes got that weird arch to them that told you a person was thinking mischievous and naughty thoughts.

"Sure, sounds good. But we'll go to Ucchan's tomorrow, ok?" Joram said as they exited the arcade.

"I'll see you two tomorrow then!" Ami said as she hurried off. Things were looking up for her friend. Maybe the two of them would hook up? That would definitely ground the Senshi of thunder.

"Bye!" The two of them said at the same time then headed off in the other direction. They chatted of inconsequential things as they made their way to the grocery store to buy some food for their evening meal. Joram was amazed at the variety of foods and other oddities found in this market place. There were fresh vegetables, fruit, breads, fish, meats and much more. All in the same place! This was definitely one of the best things he had seen yet. No more would he have to run all over town just to get the proper things he needed to cook a goods meal. Since Makoto still had all the money from the other night she paid the bill and they headed out.

"Hey, let's stop by the video store and pick up a movie." Makoto said enthusiastically. Joram just shrugged because he didn't know what a video was and went along with her. She then spent the next ten minutes or so humming and hahing over which movie to get. They were apparently small boxed thingies. He didn't know why she was so excited about it all, but again he went along with it. She picked up one called Robin Hood. Why she wanted to get something about a girl named Robin who wore a hood was beyond him though.

Soon enough they were back at the apartment and Makoto started to cook something called stir fry. It smelled really good, and by the time she was done cooking he was ready to start eating his boots he was so hungry. The wait proved to have been a good decision because the stir fry tasted amazing. They started to eat as she popped a shiny disk into a flat black box. She then activated the scrying box, she called it a TV, and people appeared on the "screen". Upon his freak-out she had to "pause" the movie and explain how movies worked. That took another hour or so, and at the end she just told him to shut up and watch the movie. He did.

By the end of it he was jumping around and cheering for Robin, who actually turned out to be a guy, and cursing the sheriff of Nottingham. She still had to restrain him at one point when he saw the witch perform her foul magic for he was about to thrust his sword through the screen to stop her. This caused yet another lecture.

After that lecture though Makoto got him to sit beside her again and tried to subtly get closer to him so that she could lean on him. This proved difficult though. Joram was one of those very-active-movie-watchers and wouldn't sit still long enough for her to execute her plan properly. This proved so frustrating for her that she made him sit on the floor for the last half hour of the move so she could stretch out on the couch and try to enjoy the last bit of the movie. Unfortunately this proved to be a poor decision on her part for she soon fell asleep.

"Wow that was a great story Makoto." Joram said happily as he turned to speak with her. "Ah, fell asleep did we?" He asked as he picked her up, gently cradling her in his arms as he headed for her bedroom. She mumbled something about playing twister with some jello with him. He didn't know what either was, but he would have to remember to ask her when she woke up. He then laid her down on her bed and proceeded to take her socks and sweater off. It was good she was a deep sleeper; it made his job a lot easier. He then pulled the covers up, tucker her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She smiled in her sleep and curled up as she rolled over.

The next morning Makoto awoke feeling well rested. She smiled as she rolled over remembering the pleasant dreams she'd had of Joram coming to her rescue when she was in trouble. Admittedly, she was the strong type girl who was very independent and liked to rely on her own strength in a fight, but she also liked to fantasize of being rescued on the occasion. Even she had a soft spot for those kinds of dreams. Then something occurred to her as she reached over and turned her alarm off.

Why was she in bed? She could have sworn that she had fallen asleep on the couch right about the time when Robin Hood was heading to the castle to save his captured friends. When she sat up she realized something else; she was no longer wearing her sweater. At his point her eyes bug out and she wraps her blanket around herself tightly. She still had her bra on, but she wasn't' going to take any chances. With a worried look on her face she looks underneath the covers to check on the status of her pants. Check, still there. Her socks were gone, but her pants were still on. Whew.

Makoto sits there for a couple of minutes trying to figure out how he had gotten her to her be without her waking up. It's a losing battle by the time she is dressed and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast. She stops dead as she sees Joram doing and handstand in the living room without a shirt on. She could see his finely shaped back as he started to do push-ups from that position. She stood there completely amazed at what she was seeing for a good ten minutes before she gives herself a shake and hurries past him into the kitchen and starts to cook up the leftovers from the night before. It wouldn't make the best breakfast, but she had wasted too much time this morning to bother making a proper one. Heck, she didn't even have time to make her lunch she was so behind schedule.

"Joram! Breakfast time." She said as she hurriedly served up two plates.

"Thanks!" Joram said as he made his way to the table. He again had his hair up in that high pony tail he preferred and a towel around his neck. "I'm really hungry after this mornings' workout." He said as he dug into the food with abandon.

"No problem, but will you be ready to leave in ten minutes?" She asked as she did her best impersonation of Usagi after having missed lunch. She really hated not being able to take a shower first thing in the morning, but she really had no time today.

"Yeah, but how about you? Will you be able to get ready in time? Don't you still have to have a shower before you go?" That's what she had done the day before after all. He hadn't been awake at the time, but he could smell it when he had woken up.

"I just don't have time this morning. I really don't want to be late." She said as she finished off her breakfast.

"I have that flying carpet, remember? It will only take us five minutes to get there." Joram said as he too finished eating. Makoto sat there and looked very undecided, even going as far as to chew her lower lip.

"Ok!" She said as she jumped to her feet and raced to the bathroom. Joram grinned and started to clean up. He was a quick study, so it didn't take him too long to have the kitchen mostly cleaned by the time Makoto ran from the bathroom to her bedroom with a towel around herself. That caught his attention. She really was a very good looking girl, and she did look the same age as he. Good thing they didn't really know how old he really was or they might think him some old pervert or something for hanging around with them. Not even a minute later Makoto emerged from her room at a run and headed to the front door to put her shoes on.

"Hurry Joram. We can do the dishes later." Joram shrugged in reply and went over and pulled on a t-shirt and his Dragon Silk armour. She then took his shoulder satchel and pulled on his boots at the door. "We really need to get you some normal footwear Joram, those just look way too old fashioned." She said as she pulled him out the front door and locked it.

"I was kind of thinking I would have to update my wardrobe. That's why I went to this place called Armani's to get some new clothes. I still have to get some good boots though." Joram said as they took the elevator down to the main floor.

"Armani's?!" She managed to choke out. That place was expensive! But very nice. She again pictured him in an Armani suit all done up. She drooled briefly before she got control of herself again. "That should do nicely." She said as she then began to imagine all the looks she would get with her on his arm.

"That's good." Joram said as he let the way to an alley beside the apartment building and pulled the flying carpet out. "Shall we?" He asked with a grin that promised much fun.

"Let's." She said as she again hopped on behind Joram and hugged him tight. Man this felt good! She thought to herself as they shot straight up into the sky. She mourned the fact that she seemed to have left her stomach behind, but soon forgot all about it as it then proved that it was indeed there when the carpet shot forward and it slammed into her spine. Nope. Stir fry for breakfast was definitely not a good idea.

As promised they arrived at the school in time. It had only taken three minutes this time. As Joram lowered the carpet he had his Dragon Silk take form of the suits he was having made so that he could show Makoto when they landed. He helped her off the carpet because she didn't seem all too steady on her feet for some reason. She stood there for a minute hugging him while her world realigned itself. It was not a pleasant experience. She let go real quick when she got a poke in the side.

"Nice to see you two getting along so well, but you'd better hurry or you'll be late." Minako said as she then rushed off ahead of her best friend. _Why did she get all the hunky guys after her_? She asked herself as she glanced over her shoulder at the two of them standing by each other.

"Uh, I'd better go." Makoto said as she started to hurry off.

"I'll come by at about noon to bring you lunch, ok?" Joram yelled after her as she vanished into the school. The only response he got from her was a wave of the hand. He sighed. She hadn't noticed the outfit.

"HiJoramnicetoseeyouthismorning!" Usagi said as she raced by kicking up a cloud of dust as she went by. Joram just shook his head. She was definitely in better shape than he had originally assed her at to be able to run that fast. Shaking his head he hopped back onto the carpet and flew back to the apartment. Once there though he realized that Makoto had her keys with her. Looking around, Joram decided to take the carpet up to her window to see if it was still open.

Grinning to himself he let himself in and headed for the shower. It was good that neither of them had locked the thing or he would have been in some trouble. Once he finished off in the bathroom he hopped to the window and jumped out as he unfurled the carpet and sped off. He still had a bit of shopping to do before he bought some lunch and went to Juban High.

"So where did you meet a hunk like him?" Was the sum of the questions she endured up until she made a break for it at lunch. Minako managed to keep on her trail as Makoto made her way to the roof to get some quiet. Minako secretly called the rest of the group from the stairwell before she too ventured forth onto the school's roof.

"You don't look so good Mako-chan." Minako said as she followed her friend to the far edge of the rooftop.

"I never thought so many people would harass me like this." She said in frustration as she sat down and leaned against the chain link fence that kept clumsy students from falling off.

"Well that's what you get for pouncing on him so fast." Minako said as she too sat down. "Anyway, you want some of my lunch? Doesn't look like you had time to make any this morning." That last bit was said with a smirk. She really wanted to know what Joram was doing to her friend to throw her off like this.

"No. Joram said he would bring me something for lunch." Makoto said absently while staring at the school grounds below her. The other two friends arrived then and they waved their greetings as they approached.

"So, why did you run off so fast Mako-chan?" Usagi asked with narrowed eyes and some nudges with her elbow to Makoto's ribs.

"I just couldn't stand all those people nagging me anymore." She almost pouted. "It was really starting to get on my nerves." This last part was said with clenched fist and Usagi backed away quickly fearing that her friend might commit an act of violence on her person.

"Oh just get over it. It's not like you've never had a boyfriend before. And since when did you start to care about what others said?" These surprising remarks from Ami made everyone stare at her in shock even though it was said as though she weren't really paying attention to the conversation in the first place. That was an amazingly straightforward thing for the Senshi of Mercury to say.

"...." Was all Makoto could think so say in response to that. She had never heard Ami like this before.

"What's up guys?" Came Joram's voice from above. That just about gave everyone a heart attack. "I've got lunch if y' all're hungry." He said as the carpet dropped to the rooftop. He then hopped off to bring them the food.

Usagi drooled at the pizzas as he laid them out for them to take their pick. The two who actually still had their lunches looked at them remorsefully as the others started to eat the pizza.

"What are you two waiting for, eat up!" Joram said jovially as she pushed a box over to Ami and Minako. They smiled and said their thanks as they too dug into the tasty western food.

"So what did you do this morning Joram?" Makoto asked as she finished yet another slice of the "Canadian" pizza.

"Oh, I went to buy some new shoes." Joram said as he stuck a foot out for them to see. They were large, black combat boots that went well up his calf. "I figured that since I'll be in this city of pavement I should get something that protects a little better than the thin leather boots I had before."

"Very nice." Minako murmured around a slice of "Hawaiian" pizza.

"Is that one of the jackets you designed?" Ami asked as she pointed out the coat he was wearing. The Dragon Silk was still in the same form as that morning.

"Ah, yes it is. What do you think?" He said as he stood up and turned around for them to see.

"It's, uh...." Minako said, or tried to say. She couldn't quite get around the fact that he looked like some sort of manga character with that jacket on.

"Very nice." Makoto finished for her while the others were trying to think of something, anything, to say.

"Thanks! I wanted the shoulders to be more loose than the others that I'd seen at the store. You can't get proper shoulder movement with those, and I really need that if I'm to swing a sword around effectively." Joram finished as he demonstrated the range of movement available with the jacket, though he didn't actually pull out a sword. Three of the four girls sweat-dropped. They really needed to introduce him to mangas and anime.

"Joram, why is there a tire mark on your back?" Ami asked as he turned around once again before sitting down.

"Eh?" Joram asked as he looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, there was a mark on the back of the coat. He concentrated for half a second and it disappeared. "I think that's from when that girl landed on me again."

Even though the four friends were sitting, the face faulted.

"Who landed on you with a bike?!" Makoto asked angrily. She would get whoever had done that to him.

"So that's what that thing is called? A bike." Joram tasted the word a bit while once again the girls sweat-drop.

"Who?" Makoto nudged.

"Oh, I think she said her name was Shaving Cream, or what it Soap..." Insert larger sweat-drop. "Uh, maybe Conditioner? Oh yeah! Shampoo! She said that her and her great-grandmother had a restaurant and that I should drop by sometime. She said it was called the Neko-something-or-other." Joram said as he pulled the flyer out of a pocket. He couldn't read it so he handed it off to Ami because she was the closest.

"Cat Café. Seems to be in Nerima." Ami said as she read the flyer. "Seems that this is a two-for-one coupon." She said as she handed it back to him.

"Ooh, we should go after school and check it out!" Usagi said enthusiastically. Makoto looked at her as though she had a screw loose, Minako shrugged, as did Ami.

"Then it's settled! We'll all go after school and check the place out." Joram said happily. "Do any of you know how to get a hold of Rei? She should come too." Joram said, but before anyone could answer they all heard screams from below. As one they stood up and grabbed the fence as they looked down to see another youma reaping havoc in the middle of the schoolyard. This one looked as though it were made of iron though, and a female design to boot. This wizard had issues.

Joram recognized the thing instantly, but never would have expected to see one of them in this day and age. Iron golems were very hard to make and took months of work. Why would a wizard send it out into public? Not thinking overly much about it, Joram took his swords from his satchel and buckled them on.

"I'll have fun with this one for a bit. You all can sit back and let the food digest." Joram said as he hopped to the top of the fence.

"But this is what we're here to do!" Usagi pouted.

Joram didn't listen as he jumped from the fence straight at the golem bringing his katana to bear. He was very surprised when the golem spun around and swatted him out of the air like a fly. It hurt, but not that bad. He heard the girls on the roof scream out in fright as they watched him get smacked down. Joram twisted in the air and landed on his feet sliding back a couple of yards.

"Now, now. Why would I go and under-estimate another opponent like that?" Joram asks himself as regards that golem that has now turned its attention on him instead of sucking the chakra out of people. Joram performed a jutsu as the golem started to walk towards him. When he finished there was only a stirring of the grass around him to let someone know that he had done something. He then channelled some chakra into his diadem. This did two things: fist was that he got stronger, much stronger; the second thing was that he got faster. He grinned as the golem raised a fist to pound him into the ground. This fist never contacted him.

The youma backed off for a second to re-evaluate the situation. When it had punched at the insolent human sand, dirt, twigs, leaves and other things that had been on the ground had intercepted her fist and stopped it dead. That had never happened before. She had always been able to punch through anything and her inability to do so with this strangely grinning human made her nervous.

Joram on the other had felt his confidence rise. It was quick, but not as strong as it should have been. He then grinned. "I know you don't care Ms. Golem lady, but your existence it about to end." Joram then twirled into action using both swords to attack. The golem responded by pulling out its own huge sword to defend, but to no avail. Joram quickly overwhelmed the poor creature. First he took off bits of its armour as it tried to defend, then its arm as it ventured to attack.

Soon it had no arms and was trying to back away from this creature in front of her. A human should not be able to move like that. What had she stumbled into? She grinned though as the human stopped in front of her to say good-bye. She opened her mouth and began to drain his life force out of him in torrents.

"Wow, look at him go!" Minako exclaimed as she watched Joram turn into a human blender.

"I'm suddenly glad that he didn't use his swords the other night." Ami said as she watched him flow seamlessly from one attack to another almost faster than she could follow. Good thing she had taken out her computer and was recording the whole fight.

They all watched in awe as he disarmed the youma, literally, and beat it up a little before stopping so say something. Just then the youma opened its' mouth and began to drain the life force out of him and regenerate its' wounds. Instantly the four Sailor Senshi were transforming in their flashy manner. Soon four defenders of love and justice were standing on the rooftop and ready to jump into the fight when Joram did something unexpected. He started to laugh.

To say that he was shocked would have been an understatement. He had never run into anything that sucked the chakra right out of him. Undead tried to snuff it out, but that was different. This was like being sucked back like a pint of beer. Then something occurred to him. What happened when you tried to drink too fast? That made him laugh.

This golem was sucking the chakra out of him at a steady rate, but the flow was negligible to him. He opened the canal, if you will, and let the chakra flow. The golem got this weird look on its' face as the chakra hit it. It looked ecstatic and frightened all at once. Its' wounds healed up and its' arms grew back.

Joram now concentrated on his palm. It began to grow very brightly as chakra became visible, swirling around faster and faster. The chaotic ball of chakra grew in size and intensity as he used his katana as the focus it was meant to be. Jirin had truly made a marvel when he had crafted the swords for him. Not only were they powerful weapons, but they served to amplify any jutsu that he used when he concentrated through one of the swords. The damage co-efficient of any jutsu multiplied three-fold. The look of terror on the golems' face was priceless. Mainly because golems weren't meant to have emotion. That still struck him as odd as he yelled "Rasengan!" and shoved his fist into its' torso.

It was eerily quiet for a moment as light began for come from the seams and cracks in the golem, then there was a huge explosion that shook the ground and rattled the windows alarmingly. Bits of the iron golem no larger than a hundred yen piece rained down on the scene for the next few moments as the dust cloud slowly settled.

When the cloud dissipated everyone who had been watching the fight with bated breath finally took a breath of relief when they saw Joram still standing there with no sign of the youma. Cheers of relief and joy could be heard throughout the school grounds as people began to come out of the school to congratulate the hero of the day. But they weren't the first ones to get there for the Sailor Senshi had jumped from the roof to surround the young man that had come to the rescue.

"That was amazing Joram!" Jupiter said and clapped him on the back when she got close enough. He fell over and landed hard, not even twitching when he hit ground.

"Oh my Kami! You killed Joram!" Sailor Moon shrieked and fainted on the spot. Makoto looked as though she might faint as well. The crowd of people were staying back, unsure of what was going on, and not willing to be in the way of another explosion if something did happen.

"Don't worry, he's just unconscious. I'm surprised that he was able to keep on his feet at all with that blast." Mercury said as she dismissed her visor as she finished her scans of Joram. "He just needs a bit of bed rest to recover."

"...." Jupiter was still shocked.

"Well, let's get him to the nurse's office so he can rest shall we?" Venus said because nobody seemed to be doing anything useful. Shaking her head she stepped forward and carefully re-sheathed Joram's katana before she picked him up. This seems to bring Jupiter back from la-la land and she gives a start. By this time though, Venus has Joram in her arms and is reconsidering carrying him. He was much heavier than he looked. With a rueful smile she hands him off to Jupiter, somewhat regretful that she wasn't strong enough to carry the gorgeous man.

"Let's get going." Mercury said as she helped Sailor Moon to her feet. She was still sobbing quietly even though Ami had reassured her that Joram would be fine. They made their way through the crowds of people and into the school. The spotted the nurse on the way and had her go on ahead to prepare a bed for him. When they got there the only thing they needed to do was lay him on the bed and take off before the crowd gathered up enough courage to start asking them for autographs.

The nurse, her name was Kitsuna Aika, was now having a good day. She had been expecting to have to treat a dozen or so students because that youma had shown up, but now she only had one young man that just needed some rest. He was oddly dressed, but that didn't matter, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had raven black hair with a bluish hue to it that was pulled up into a ponytail that sat at the crown of his head. His shoulders were very broad and he looked to be in extremely good shape.

She went over to him and unbuckled his swords so that he could rest easier, but was stopped when his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. This caused her to yelp in surprise and her heart to skip a beat. She relaxed again when he didn't actually wake up and proceeded to put the swords at his bedside, let his hair down and do a quick check over for any broken bones. Yeah, looking for broken bones.... She then pulled up a chair so that she could watch him in his sleep.

She was twenty one and still single. She sighed. If this man were only a couple years older she might have gone for him. But he just looked too young to her; only in first year university or so. She sighed again. She was just too shy to be able to find a guy, even a younger guy. So she just sat there and watched him as he slept and was amazed to watch the couple of scrapes he had gotten from the fight heal right in front of her eyes. She had never seen something like this before. It was absolutely amazing.

So it was that scene that Makoto, Minako, Ami and Usagi walked in on. Makoto's eyebrow twitched slightly at the sight of the nurse leaning over Joram's bed, her back to the rest of the room. She cleared her throat, loudly. That seemed to get the nurse's immediate attention for she jumped about a foot in the air at the sound. It was really quite something to see; the meek and timid nurse, whose name nobody could remember, doing what looked like some sort of aerial attack. Then that illusion was shattered when she landed unceremoniously on her but with a squeak.

"Uh, hi. We were just wondering how Joram was doing." Ami said for the group. She really didn't trust Makoto to speak at that moment.

"Oh, yes. The Sailor Senshi came in and dropped him off. His name is Joram? He is really quite something. You wouldn't believe it but I just watched as his wounds healed right up in front of my eyes!" She said excitedly and she pushed her glasses back up her nose and tried to regain some dignity by rearranging her clothes.

"Really? My mother is a doctor, and I have never heard of someone healing that fast." Ami said as she went to Joram's side and stealthily pulled out the Mercury computer to do a quick scan.

The other girls caught on to what she was trying to do, well not Usagi anyway, and began to ask the poor nurse twenty questions all at once.

"....no, it seems that he was only knocked unconscious by the concussive force of that explosion...." and "....no, he doesn't have any broken bones; just a few scratches...." were some of the answers that she managed to get out as she was bombarded with questions. A couple of minutes later Joram said up.

"Yawn!" He yawned. "That was a great nap!" He said as he pulled out his fine pocket watch. The nurse noticed it and almost began to drool. Not only is he probably the most handsome man she had ever seen, but it looked as though he was loaded.

"Shouldn't you all be in class?" Joram asked as he looked around the room at the four girls gathered.

"We were given this period off while the administration tries to get everything back into order." Minako said as she too approached Joram. He looked really good with his hair down like that.

"You would think that no one would be phased by yet another youma appearing seeing as how they just tend to pop up every now and then." Ami said as she put away the Mercury computer. She was kind of annoyed at the moment. Not only did she miss getting readings from Joram when he was healing at that advanced rate, but she was missing a class.

"Well, wasn't that nice of them." Joram said happily. "So, we're still good to go to that Cat Café after school?"

"We sure are!" Usagi piped in bouncing up and down. Joram quickly looked away because gravity was doing interesting things to the young lady as she bounced.

"That's great. I'll see you all after school. I think I'll continue my nap now." He said with a big grin and rolled over. Everyone in the room sweat-dropped at this. Though the nurse got a grin on her face. Fortunately the others were too distracted to notice it though, or she might have found herself in a precarious situation. At length the girls left the room and went back to the roof to gather the bags and such that they had left behind when they had jumped down to help Joram.

A minute or so after the girls left Joram sat up again and regarded the nurse. "So, what is someone like you doing in a place like this?" Joram asked, looking quite serious.

"What do you mean?" She asked nervously as she twittered with her long white coat.

"I didn't think of find someone trained like I was trained in this day and age." Joram said as he swung his legs over the bed so that he could regard her directly. Her nervousness seemed to dissipate like fog on a hot sunny day. She stood straighter and with more confidence. That meant that she now looked confident enough to venture out into the wide, scary world instead of wanting to hide under the bed.

"What do you know of my training?" She asked calmly. Well, calmly for her anyway. To Joram she seemed like someone about to run.

"Trained in chakra use, ninja stuff, you know; all the fun stuff." Joram said with a grin as he put his swords back into his shoulder satchel for safe keeping. "I noticed your larger than average chakra reserves when I grabbed your wrist earlier."

"So what do you plan on doing now Mr. Shinobi?" She asked as she backed away from him. There were many shinobi out there that didn't get along too well, and she didn't want to be cornered by one that might want to do her in. She had had to deal with that once before, and she really didn't want to have to deal with it again if she could help it.

"What clan were you trained in?" He asked simply.

"Konoha, the Hidden Leaf." She said as she casually reached into her coat pocket where she kept a couple of kunai just in case.

"Wow, really?!" Joram said excitedly. "The clan survived after all this time?" He jumped to his feet and did a little jig he was so happy. "I didn't think it would have survived after all these years." Poor Aika just face faulted at the sight. She had been expecting to have to fight for her life and instead she was privy to the sight of this Joram character doing a jig.

"What are you talking about?" She asked the strange man in front of her as he stopped his jig and stood there grinning. "You look several years younger than me, and I have never seen you before."

"Oh, I had an accident a while back." Joram said rather lamely. "I just got back a few days ago."

"What kind of accident?" She asked curiously. She didn't know why, but she felt she could trust this stranger. It was the oddest feeling really.

"Oh, you know; interrupt a wizard's portal spell and get sucked in and find yourself in another time." Joram said with a shrug. "But more importantly; what ranking do you hold in your village? Are you a genin, chonin or what?"

"Ah, just a genin." She said. This fellow was definitely odd.

"A genin? Well, you will have to do some more training to get up to snuff. It's your lucky day. I will train you!" Joram said as he posed sideways sticking his arm out and giving her a thumbs up. She sweat dropped.

"I left the village because I wanted to lead a normal life, not because I wanted to do some out of village training." She explained to the overenthusiastic hunk in front of her.

"Ah, I see. I have known several shinobi that wanted to do the same." Joram said as she nodded to himself. "Well, since you are a nurse, I shall teach you a jutsu that will allow you to do your job better." He said as he motioned her over. She came over somewhat hesitantly.

"Now, this is just a simple healing jutsu. It will repair broken skin and bones, as well as torn muscles." He said as he pulled a blank scroll from his shoulder satchel and began looking for his ink and quill. Aika handed him a pen. He looked at it curiously.

"Just take the cap off and write." She said in exasperation. Man, he must really be from a long ways off not to know how to use a pen. Joram nodded and did as instructed. Soon he had all the hand seals written down and a detailed diagram drawn up showing her how to mould and channel her chakra so she could perform the jutsu.

"It might take you a while to get it down, but once you do it will be a huge help. I can't tell you how many peoples' lives I've saved with this simple jutsu over the years." He said as he handed her the scroll. She looked it over and just stared. This was the most complicated jutsu she had ever seen, or rather, been allowed to learn. And he called it simple.

"Well I should get going. I have a few more errands to run before I have to pick the girls up for dinner. What did you say your name was again?" He asked as he headed for the door.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for being so rude. My name is Kitsuna Aika. Pleased to meet you." She said with a bow.

"My name is Joram. Pleased to meet you." He said as he returned the bow.

"I look forward to speaking with you again Joram-sama." She said as he opened the door to leave.

"Sure. If you ever want to contact me, just speak with Makoto. You know, the tall one with brown hair." He said as he left. She sat down on the edge of the bed when he left and had to wonder; who was that guy? This jutsu was something a chonin might have had problems with, and he had just drawn it out for her like it was nothing. She sighed. Maybe he was one of those guys that hardly aged as they grew up. That would explain why he was so knowledgeable. She then began imagining the two of them spending more and more time together and she blushed. He was really quite something to look at.

"So, Rei said she would meet us there?" Joram asked as they all hopped on a bus to head over to the Cat Café for dinner. Joram was only asking them the question to distract himself. He really wanted to take this bus apart so that he could find out how it worked. His fingers began to twitch.

"Yeah, she said that she had to take care of something first then would meet us there." Minako said from his side. This bus was quite packed, and there was very little to no personal space to be had.

"I wouldn't worry, she is usually much better at getting somewhere on time than Usagi is." Makoto said from in front of him. She was pressed up against his chest in a rather alarming manner, and it was all he could do to keep to the calming meditative techniques he had learned long ago. Usagi wasn't present though, which was odd. Ami had explained that she had tried to invite Mamoru along but he had flat out refused and even managed to get her to stay with him that evening instead of going somewhere with Joram in the group.

"That's good to hear." Joram said somewhat stiffly. The swaying and bobbing of the bus was doing interesting things to him with three girls pressed up against him. Calming, meditative techniques. "So, does anyone know what the weather will be like today?" He asked.

"Well the forecast said that there would be a twenty percent chance of light showers this evening. So I would guess that there will be a heavy downpour." Ami said as she held up her umbrella.

"Good to know." Minako said somewhat sarcastically. She didn't think her white blouse would be up to an evening in the pouring rain.

"Great. Maybe we can find a shop with some umbrellas before we go for dinner." Makoto suggested as she pressed into Joram when the bus stopped suddenly.

She quickly looked up into his eyes to gauge his reaction, and if she hadn't really been looking for something she might have missed his faint blush. She grinned to herself. Then the bus driver's voice comes over the intercom telling them that they would have to catch another route because one of the crazy martial artists of the area just blew a hole in the middle of the road. Joram tried to look around to spot the person he had felt using that much chakra, but there were just too many people around.

Soon enough all the passengers that were on the bus are now standing on the street corner just up the block waiting for another bus to come by. Joram and friends take another route, and soon they are flying through the night sky on his magic carpet. Surprisingly enough it was Minako that got stuck the farthest away from Joram as they flew through the sky. Ami had jumped onto the carpet so fast that it was all Makoto could do to get her seat behind Joram before Minako could beat her to it. So Minako was stuck holding onto her two friends instead of the hunk the whole ride to the Cat Café. She pouted.

Ami soon pointed out the little restaurant as they approached. She had studied the area very well before the outing just in case they had to get somewhere quickly. They landed in they alley beside the restaurant so that they wouldn't cause too much of a commotion and then proceeded into the Cat Café with the newly acquired Rei. They were all surprised to learn that the Café was pretty full and would have to wait for a bit to get a table. That didn't detour Joram though, the food smelled really good. So they waited near the front of the restaurant for a bit until the pretty blue-haired girl came over to see if she could help them.

"It's ok Shampoo, we'll wait for a couple of tables to open up." Joram said.

"Its ok, those people leave soon, they been here too too long already." Shampoo said cutely as she pointed to a corner of guys that were pretty much just watching her and the red haired girl serve the food. "I get them out." She nodded to herself as she went over to the table and asked them to pay their bill and go, and to have a nice day. For some reason they all paled somewhat when she asked and ran over to the cash register where, what looked like, a mummified monkey with long hair was standing on a tall staff. Three of the four girls with Joram cringed back from the sight. Ami on the other hand had her computer out yet again and was taking scans of the phenomenon as they took their seats. The mummified monkey thing pogo'd over to the food preparation area as a young fellow with long black hair and white robes stood up rubbing his head.

"Put your glasses on Mouse. I don't want to have to come over there again." The monkey thing cackled as it threw together dishes of food at amazing speeds. It would then throw the food to one of the girls, either Shampoo or the red-head, who would then serve it to one of the customers either waiting at a table or for take-out. It was all very high energy and the poor Sailor Senshi were getting tired just watching them go. After only five minutes or so the red-head came over to take their order.

"So, what'll you all have?" She asked almost rudely and got a serving tray thrown into the back of her head for it. She spun around and yelled at the monkey thing. "What did'ya do that for you old ghoul?!" She then sent the tray back at the monkey thing at high speeds, but it was caught out of the air like a frisbee thrown at a leisurely pace.

"You have to learn some more manners son-in-law. We don't want people saying that the service was poor here, do we?" It then laughed, or maybe it really was more of a cackle, and threw five more bowls of ramen at the red-headed girl who caught them all easily and quickly took them to the appropriate tables then came back.

"Sorry 'bout that. The old ghoul works me like a slave. Anyway, what would you like to order?" She stood there with a pencil and notepad ready to take their order. When she realized that they were all still staring at her with dumbfounded expressions on their faces she muttered "newbies" and turned to grab a couple of menus for them to look at. It only took a couple of minutes to decide for the girls, unfortunately for Joram he still couldn't read. He knew of a spell that allowed him to read languages he didn't already know, but he hadn't as yet had the time to memorize it. That, and the duration of the spell wasn't all that long. So Makoto just showed him the pictures of some of the dishes and told him what was on each of them. It was easy from there on out. He ordered five deluxe ramen just for himself.

Now Joram is used to being stared at like he's crazy every time he orders that much food for just himself, so he was a little... shocked?... that the red-head didn't even bat an eyelash at how much he ordered.

"Say, we didn't catch your name. Mine is Joram." Joram said with his usual grin.

The red-head looked at him a bit funny, but just shrugged and said: "I'm Saotome Ranma, pleased to meet you." Then headed off to place their order.

"Hmm...." Joram hmm'd.

"What?" Minako asked, "Are you checking out that Ranma girl?" Insert mischievous glint in eye. Makoto turns and regards him with a cold look.

"No, I was just thinking that that girl must be a really good martial artist is all!" Joram explained frantically.

"Uh, huh...." Minako says to egg on the conversation and her friend. It's not a good thing that she has been somewhat bored these past few days. That, and she was really used to having guys notice her first.

Insert death glare from Makoto to Joram.

"I'm serious! Just look how she moves." Now Joram was almost begging. Almost. He would never beg. No he wouldn't.

"Yeah, we can all see how well she moves." Makoto said in a frosty tone of voice that reminded him of the arctic wastes he had gone to once to take care of a white dragon. It had been a good fight; he had only died once.

"I-uh-bah!" Joram just gave up at that point, picked up the napkin holder and whipped it at the red-head to prove his point. He wasn't disappointed. Just when he was beginning to think that it actually would hit her in the head, she spun around, knocked it into the air with her elbow (for she was holding two trays at the time), did a quick spin kick and launched it back at his face. He didn't manage to catch it in time and took it full in the face. After a few seconds the metal napkin holder fell to the table to reveal a large red welt forming diagonally across his face.

"That hurt you know." Joram told the girls who were now laughing at him hysterically. The red-head came over after having dropped her orders off.

"So what'd you do that for, huh?" Ooh, she was angry enough that her short braid was sticking on end.

"These young ladies wouldn't believe me when I said that I thought you were a good martial artist, so I threw this thing at you." Joram said and picked up the now misshapen napkin holder to demonstrate his point.

"Damn right I'm a good martial artist. I'm the best." She said smugly with a smirk and was promptly smacked across the back of her head by the monkey mommy with the large staff.

"Not yet you aren't son-in-law." She said as she hopped away on her staff.

"...grumblegrumble...mummified...grindgrind...demonmonkey...." Ranma grumbled. "Anyway, yeah, I'm a good martial artist. Do you practice the Art too?" She asked with some interest which earned Joram a glare from Makoto.

"Yeah, a little. Nothing huge though; I'm better with a sword." Joram said as the heat began to flow in waves. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Ranma didn't seem the notice the look Joram was getting from Makoto. Rei started to give him the death-ray gaze as well which really made him feel uncomfortable. Why were they acting like this? He was just chatting with someone about one of his hobbies?

"Anyway," Joram said trying to save vs. death, "Would you like to spar sometime? I haven't had a decent sparring partner in quite some time." Joram asked as innocently as he could.

"Sure, sounds fun." She said brightly. "Just don't go easy on me 'cause I'm a girl or nothin. I'm really a guy."

Insert jaw drop.

End.

Authors Notes:

Now, some of you are probably wondering why I have done certain things like I have. Don't worry, it will all be explained soon. And for the people who may think Joram is a little too tough, well, he has had a couple hundred years of practice.... That, and he just plain got lucky. The NWC will be an interesting experience for him.

If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to email me. I'm still trying to work things out for the story, so please bear with me. This is after all, my first fanfic type story. Well, my first story that lasted more than a few pages at least....

email: 

Nov. 16, 2004.

Oh, and I don't own any of the anime type characters in this story. You can blame someone else for them. Though I do take full responsibility for the AD&D type characters, for they are my creations.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Joram could not recall the last time he had been so shocked. There was the time when he had been walking through a dungeon looking for loot when he came across this pretty little doll laying on the floor, and when he had picked it up it pulled out two rather long knives from somewhere and tried to carve him like a turkey. That was shocking.

This was, well, shocking; but on a whole other playing field. If he had been aware enough of his surroundings, he might have noticed the four girls who were with him were in the same state of shock, but he wasn't. He was just staring at a perfectly round and youthful looking bust in front of him. He leaned closer and even pocked it thrice to be sure. Yup, they were real. He looked up at the red-head who had introduced herself as a "him" and called her/himself Saotome Ranma and saw that her/his eyebrow was twitching in a rather alarming manner. In case that hadn't been enough to tip him off that he had done something bad, there were two other main indicators. One: Ranma was now glowing a bright red as her/his battle aura popped into being. Two: had he not been so good at saving vs. death, the looks every girl in the restaurant were giving him would have fried him on the spot, then frozen the remains, shattered them, then ground them into a fine powder and scattered them to the four winds. Then some bird would have crapped on them for good measure because it too would have been female.

He really knew he was in trouble when he saw Katreen over to his left munching on a bread stick watching him with a grin on her face. Right then he knew he would have to take some drastic measures if he didn't want to lose some serious points. So even before the women in the restaurant could react, which was saying something considering the company, Joram performed a quick jutsu and jumped straight up while reaching into his shoulder satchel to grab a rather large log, just in time to have anything that was readily available thrown at him. It was amazing really. One wouldn't think someone would be carrying around a bowling ball and the ten pins that went along with it, nor an anvil, but then again, this was Nerima. Those were only a few of the plethora of object that were launched his way. As Joram reached the peak of the jump all of the items hit him and seemed to hang in the air for a moment. Now, Joram wasn't thrown in any one particular direction due to the fact he was bombarded on all sides at once, so he just wound up dropping to the floor under the rapidly growing pile of junk.

Heck, Ami, Minako, Rei, and Makoto had even been the first ones to throw something at him for doing what he had done. After several moments though, the barrage of junk slowed then stopped as the females of the area ran out of ammunition. So it was that Cologne, who hadn't bothered throwing anything, found that she now had a rather large pile of junk in the middle of her restaurant that now needed to get cleaned up. She looked over at her great grand daughter and sighed. The girl still looked as though she wanted to throw more pointy things at the young man that had poked Ranma in the chest a few times. She understood his reaction somewhat though, most people didn't believe in magic these days. That was also why she refrained from telling all the girls in the restaurant that Joram was hiding behind the counter. She also wanted to learn where he had learned that substitution technique he had just used to escape the, most likely, fatal bombardment.

She looked down at the large man who was trying very hard not to attract any attention to himself. She just grinned at him reassuringly (Joram paled visibly at the sight of the mummified monkey smiling grotesquely at him) and turned back to the mess in her restaurant. "Now all of you who threw something, go and pick it up before I get angry." She said and hopped over to continue cooking while everyone hurried to comply. This may be the best restaurant in the area, but nobody wanted to get Cologne angry. She could do weird stuff.

"That's it!" Joram heard the red-head say, "I'm gonna' to get changed. I've had enough of people doing that t'me!" She said as she stomped to the back room and slammed a door shut.

"You had better stay there for a few minutes sonny," Cologne said as she hopped down to get some ingredients. "I don't know what son-in-law will do if he sees you while still embarrassed about what you did to him." She hopped up quickly when she heard another commotion up front. Apparently the girls had now found the log that had taken the beating meant for Joram. Ami had enough shame at what she had done to look embarrassed with herself. That wasn't the case for Rei though; she looked as though she had really enjoyed herself. Minako was just regretting that he hadn't ever shown any inclination to do something like that to her. Makoto looked as though she could chew rocks.

"I can't believe he did something like that! And in front of Mako-chan too!" Rei said as she kicked at a bowling pin in her anger.

"I can't believe he got away." Ami said as she pointed at the battered log that several girls had just uncovered. There was a general growl of disappointment and anger heard throughout the restaurant at that point, but Ami couldn't understand how he had escaped. One moment he had been mid-air, then the next covered by all of the projectiles in the area. And where had he been keeping that log? After a minute of thought she remembered his strange shoulder satchel and smacked herself in the forehead for having forgotten about the thing. She looked around to make sure nobody was watching, made her way over to her table and pulled out the Mercury computer to scan the area. He couldn't have gotten very far. She grins as her glasses gleam.

Joram suddenly got a very bad feeling about something, and did a quick 'scan' of the area to detect life. It was a very useful ability he had picked up a couple of years after leaving his village. It had saved his life countless times and, more importantly, it had saved him thousands of points. From where he was hiding he couldn't see the person who was approaching, but he could tell that the person's aura was huge. He was quite afraid that it might be that Ranma girl/guy out to find him, so he tried even harder to blend into the minimal shadows around him. He hated to admit it, but he had kind of deserved the attempted bludgeoning for what he had done. It had just taken him by surprise is all.

"Are you going to hide down there all night?" A male's voice asked from above him. He sounded… annoyed?

Joram looked up and saw, what he took for, Ranma's brother. He didn't look too happy. "So, uh, someone found me huh?" Joram said as he got to his feet. Fortunately enough there were no women looking in his direction at the time. So Joram made sure that none would see him by inching his way around a corner, all the while Ranma's brother followed him with a scowl on his face.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not wanting a repeat of what just happened. If you are going to beat me up I'd prefer it was just you, not the entire female population of the area." Joram said when he thought it would be safe to stop.

"Uh, huh…." Ranma's brother said. "Let's go out back; we won't be bothered out there." He then walked past Joram and headed out the back door. Joram just shrugged and followed along.

"So, uh, what's your name?" Joram asked as he took up a spot a few yards from the black haired guy in front of him.

"Saotome Ranma." He said simply. He really wanted to see the look on this guy's face when he realized that he and the red-head were actually the same person.

"Saotome Ranma…." Joram repeated the name to himself slowly. Ranma watched as the expressions on the guy's face changed from confused, to thoughtful to wide eyed shock.

"Saotome; you can polymorph?!" Joram exclaimed loudly and Ranma face faulted.

"No you idiot! It's a curse. I change from a guy into a girl if I touch cold water, and back to a guy if I touch hot water." Who was this guy? And what is polymorph?

"Ah. Oh. Uh…." Joram was at a loss for words. What do you say to that? "Sorry." He said simply.

"That ain't gonna cut it." Ranma said as he took up a fighting stance. "You can call me Ranma. I don't like going by my family name." He told this weird Joram guy as he too took up a fighting stance. It wasn't anything he had seen before though. He wondered where this guy had learned to fight and if he was any good.

"Didn't think so." Joram said with a sigh. This guy looked like he know what he was doing. He looked the same age as he did, he still looked like he was about eight teen or so, so he wasn't sure how good he might be. All of the young ones back in the village he had gone to to learn more of the Art Jirin had taught him could fight fairly well. There had even been a few that excelled at hand to hand combat. With one of his more resigned grins Joram flared his chakra slightly so that he would be just that much more nimble and opened the match with a round house.

"I've found him. He seems to be heading out the back with someone." Ami reported to her friends.

"I bet he's going out back with that girl." Minako smirked.

"No, the other bio signature says that it is a man." Ami said and at the same time managed to knock Minako down a peg or two.

"You don't think he's 'that' kind of guy do you?" Rei said as though it were the most disgusting thing in the world. Sure she didn't like the guy at all, but the though of that hunk being wasted on another guy was sickening to her.

"…." Makoto couldn't say anything. She recalled all the time she had spent with him the past couple of days and couldn't remember one single time he might have hit on her. She paled visibly as her eyes grew twice as large.

"Stop the stupid speculation. I for one am going to head out back to see what's going on." Ami said as she made her way to the back just as the mummified monkey told everyone that it was closing time and that they should leave. It then pointed at the four of them and told them to stay. Makoto looked at her friends, rather confused. What was going on? In a manner of minutes the restaurant was cleared out and the door locked.

"You four will come with me." The mummified monkey said as she hopped to the back of the restaurant quite quickly. Shampoo followed immediately behind and soon the four confused girls followed suit.

Setsuna woke up with the worst head-ache she had the misfortune of remembering. Staring up into the grey mist floating around her she idly wonders to herself why she didn't feel the wind that was swirling the fog around her. She blinked. Then blinked again.

Why was she laying on the ground like this? Then it all came back in a torrent of memories. She had been scanning through the time line looking for something good to watch when an anomaly surged out of nowhere and slammed her with the force of a tidal wave. Well, that's what it felt like anyway. She reached over, picked up the time key and used it to help her stand. She looked over to the Gates of Time and saw that they were still open. That was good. She really didn't want to have to go through all the bother to open them again. That would have taken a long time and some embarrassing explanations.

So she hobbled on over to the Gates of Time with the aid of the staff like time key and began to scan the time line to find what had done this to her. She froze a moment later realizing something. With a wave of the hand and a tap from the time key she brought up the very familiar image of Crystal Tokyo. She smiled as she saw it appearing out of the mists of time and was glad. Then her joy was shattered. As she really looked at Crystal Tokyo she saw something that wasn't supposed to be.

The buildings were all made of the same materials as the normal Crystal Tokyo was, but these buildings looked like something nature would have dreamt up. They curved and twisted and branched. If a city were to have been constructed amongst the great red woods, around their trunks and intertwined amongst the branches, then all turned into crystal; that is what this place might have looked like. But it wasn't that sight that so made her distraught, no, for that sight was beautiful. But it was the metallic like dragons flying about the skies and landing to chat with other peoples. There was also what looked like other mythical creatures walking about as well. There were the Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings too. There were sprites, brownies, dryads and many other creatures that should have been extinct a hundred millennia ago. What were they all doing here? Then, as though a vision came to her, she saw the image of a young man wearing a diadem with a black gem set into it.

Setsuna jumped back hastily from the image that had been conjured and composed herself. That must have been the ruler of the new Crystal Tokyo. But where was Queen Serenity? With new resolve she began to check the time line for the origins of this anomaly. She would start at the point in time just before she blacked out. Going back to what she remembered doing she realized that she had been unconscious for two and a half days. This just about made her faint. How much damage could this new threat have caused is two and a half days?

At length she found the spot where it had hit. She watched as a black clad figure with two swords, shin guards, and bracers fell from a swirling vortex and lands unconscious on the ground. It is several minutes before the figure begins to stir then sits up just to dodge a giant crocodile. As this person jumps to their feet she catches a glimpse of his face. Again she gasps. This was getting annoying. She hadn't been so jumpy since she was a little child. The face of the man now, apparently, running for his life is the same one she saw in her vision when viewing Crystal Tokyo.

She continues to watch as he makes his way out of the personal estates of the Kuno family after having dodged the man of the house. Soon he is wondering the city, looking for all he was worth like some country bumpkin in a ninja outfit. Except he didn't look Japanese. He then went to a bank to exchange some interesting gold coins for some modern money. She was starting to feel that he wasn't all that bad a guy because he had handed over his swords without complaint to the security guard. Then he left the bank and headed across the street to a rather large park. He seemed to be just relaxing when a youma appears and starts attacking everyone. He then did one of the most marvellous things she had ever seen a normal human do; he jumped twenty feet in the air and clove the youma in half. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; a mere human taking out a youma that the scouts would have had to fight several minutes to destroy.

She was again surprised when the youma suddenly exploded so violently that it sent the would be hero flying through the air, across the street, and back into the bank from where he had just come. What again surprised her was that he just got up from an explosion like that. No griping, no holding his back, side, arm, leg or whatever; nothing. She was beginning to wonder if he really was human after all.

After having collected his money from a shocked bank teller, he went back to the park. There he saw, then snuck up upon the Sailor Senshi. After a few exchanged words Sailor Mars began attacking the stranger. Setsuna, or rather Sailor Pluto, smiled. She would get to see just what this person could do. And if he proves too troublesome, she can always remove him from the current timeline.

After a short fight and some exchanged words; Mars really tries to roast the guy. Unfortunately though, the key word is "tries". She didn't even really singe him! He then summons a water youma that takes poor Mars out in just two blows. By this time Sailor Pluto is grinding her teeth. Unless this man is from the Dark Kingdom or something, he shouldn't have been able to do such a thing. Sailor Pluto grins as she watched the other Senshi join the battle, but stops when Mercury uses her Bubble Spray to fog the entire area over so that they can re-group. This also has the added benefit, or rather side effect, of completely blocking Setsuna's view. When the fog clears Setsuna is again shocked. All five Senshi are now down and being dragged over to a nearby bench. She breaths easier when she can see that they are all still alive.

The stranger then proceeds to yell at them angrily. He starts waving his hands around and stomping like he's from an old Godzilla movie and he's one of the giant monsters. She smiles. He is leaving himself open to attack from Tuxedo Kamen. Her smile fades though when his hand shoots out and catches the rose that Tuxedo Kamen threw at him. That has never happened before. Nobody catches one of his roses. That just wasn't right (even if they were kind of sissy looking). She then just about face faults though when he completely misses the incoming cane and it impales him through the chest. She smiles again. So much for this anomaly.

Tuxedo Kamen then jumps down from his perch and starts to give one of his bad speeches about vanquishing the foe when Sailor Pluto pales. The stranger had just gotten to his knees and formed an energy ball of some sort and hit Tuxedo Kamen in the solar plexus. That stranger just wasn't human.

She then dismissed the image as Joram pulled the cane back out and summoned forth an image from the present. She needed to check to see if the princess was still all right. She didn't have the time to continue watching clips from the past so she just found Usagi's room in the present time. She wasn't there. She then started to search her favourite hangouts and finally found her at the Crown Arcade. Unfortunately she was fighting with Mamoru. By this time Setsuna was seeing red. The subject of their arguing: one Joram. She would be happy to bet that that Joram was the same guy that had just appeared. Sure enough, Mamoru started yelling at her about trusting someone that had just about killed him.

That was good enough for her. She closed the viewing window she was using and went in search of this Joram. It wasn't long before she again found him, this time in the present. He was currently fighting a boy with black hair in a brain, baggy black pants, and a red silk chinese shirt. It was obvious both were exceedingly talented in the art of fighting, but the red-shirted boy was better. She came to this conclusion from gathering a few small pieces of information from the fight. One: he was much more graceful. Two: he could throw out many more attacks than this Joram character could. And finally three: he was smiling the whole time she watched him. Every now and then he would get a look of mild concentration on his face but that never lasted long, usually until he shifted his style slightly to compensate for the problem.

All in all it was an amazing fight, and she really did want to watch it for a little while longer before she acted. But she couldn't risk anything happening to the four Senshi standing in the background with worry etched on their faces. Well, Ami was just scanning the whole thing. There were also two other people standing there watching that she hadn't noticed until now. Hmm, curious. Why would a pair of Amazons be watching a fight between two men? Unless the younger one was trying to decide upon a husband. That wouldn't do at all. She would have to make sure that this Joram lost the match. She didn't want to have to deal with him getting the whole tribe of Amazons in his hand. Or even a connection like that to them.

Shaking her head she opened yet another window, this one taking an aerial view, to watch them fight. She studied the fight for another couple of minutes before she gave up trying to find a pattern she could exploit. Well if someone got caught in the blast that wasn't supposed to be in the blast, she could live with that. Crystal Tokyo had to come about. So she opened a temporal portal above the match and charged up an attack. This should end quickly. "DEAD SCREAM!"

This fight was even more amazing to watch than the fight with Uranus had been. The black haired guy Joram was fighting with was so much better at fighting than Uranus was that he made her look like a walrus trying to do ballet. He even made Joram look almost clumsy with how graceful he was. And the endurance! They had been fighting like this for the past twelve minutes and getting faster and more intense the longer they fought! She just couldn't believe it. Even though she was seeing it a part of her brain was still trying to deny the sight in front of her. Minako shook her head. She was really going to have to practice to be able to fight anywhere near that level. Who was she kidding? She would have to practice for ten years before she got even one tenth that skill level.

So she stood there watching the fight clutching Joram's shoulder satchel as though it were him. He had thrown it to her near the beginning of the fight to get it out of the way. They fought for another minute or so before she noticed something odd. There was an odd rippling effect about thirty feet above their heads.

"Hey Ami? What's that?" Minako asked somewhat concerned while pointing her friend to the distortion.

"I don't know. One moment please." She said as she turned her computer to scan then distortion. "It seems to be some sort of temporal anomaly. There is a huge build-up of power from the other side though!" She said as she grabbed Minako. "We need to run!"

"Joram, look out!!" Makoto yelled at the top of her lungs as she pointed up.

Joram had been so distracted by the fight that he had even forgotten that there were people watching from the side lines. He looked over at Makoto mid jump and saw her pointing above his head. So he quickly looked up to see some sort of portal above him. The distraction earned him a boot to the head from Ranma just as he felt the huge power surge from above. Faster than he had reacted in a very long time, he grabbed Ranma's foot as it slid by his head after impacting it and gave a mighty swing to get the poor guy out of the way. Just as he thought, Ranma rolled mid air with the throw and gave him a horrified look as a massive sphere of energy slammed down on Joram.

Setsuna smiled happily to herself. The threat was now gone. He was now crushed into the bottom of a crater ten feet across by ten feet deep. There must have been a water main under there because a pipe was now feeding water into the hole, trying mightily to fill it. What she didn't expect was the Sailor Senshi's reactions.

Makoto dropped the bag she was holding and made her way to the edge of the water filled crater. There was already five feet worth of water in the hole. What really shocked her about this was that there were silent tears rolling down from her eyes to fall off her chin onto her sweater. Rei was just standing there in shock, as was Minako. Both just shook their heads in denial. Ami, although distressed, kept on scanning the area. So Setsuna closed the portal to avoid giving her too much information.

The two Amazons were holding back the black haired young man, apparently trying to dissuade him from searching the crater. The elder of the two was searching the area intently with her eyes, but wasn't convinced that the threat was entirely gone. She then had to push a pressure point on the young man to knock him out because he was struggling too much.

Then her attention was drawn back to the pool of water. What drew her attention was the fact that the water was stirring in a different direction from what is should have been. Then suddenly Joram jumps out of the hole to land opposite from where Makoto was standing. Setsuna was too stunned for words, i.e.; to even swear. He didn't even have a scratch on him! What was he?

"He would be my Avatar." A female voice said from behind her. "And he seems really angry right about now." Setsuna spun around to see just who had managed to come to her sanctuary. Before her stood a woman of middling height in a jet black dress that would have been appropriate at court. She was also wearing an intricate necklace with black gems that resembled the one Joram had is his diadem.

"Your Avatar? And who might you be?" She asked, getting ready for a fight.

"I am one of the few gods that remain to watch over the Earth. Now, you will stop attacking him, or I will let him know how to get here so he can repay your favour." The woman said while looking perfectly at ease with the situation. Setsuna just wanted to grind her teeth.

"And why should I believe you?"

"That's a good question." The lady in black said. "I suppose I could kill you, but that might be counter productive. Hmm...." She mused for a moment. "Ah! I know. Hotaru come here." She said as said girl pops into being. "Could you please tell this young lady who I am?"

Hotaru looked from one lady to the other. She didn't want to get involved in this, but she had been summoned and teleported here by Katreen.

With a sigh she says. "This is the goddess Katreen, she rules over death and life."

"...."

"Can I go now? I'm missing my show." She asked Katreen in a bored tone of voice.

"Yes, yes." Katreen said with a wave of her hand and Hotaru disappears just as fast as she appeared. "Now, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't kill him any more. I do have other things that need to be doing instead of this. Remember, if you don't stop, I'll let Joram deal with you. He doesn't take kindly to people trying to kill him for no reason." She said as she started to walk back through the foggy landscape.

"And what am I to do about Crystal Tokyo? He is the reason why it no longer exists!" She could have spat she was so angry.

"Are you so narrow minded that you can't see what's in front of you?" Katreen asked as she turned to regard the furious Senshi. "The Crystal Tokyo you are referring to has only changed in it's architecture and the number of races living there. Your precious Moon Princess still rules there and her Sailor Senshi still protect her." She said then turned to walk off. As she did she spoke out loud and said: "Oh. I wouldn't open too many portals near him, he learns very fast." With that said she disappeared into the mists that made up the surrounding landscape.

Setsuna could chew rocks at this point. The person who was responsible for her dream changing beyond recognition was being protected by a goddess. And going by what she had just said, she had actually killed him and Katreen had just brought him back to life. She would have to be very careful with how she was going to take out Joram.

Joram was so angry that he could chew rocks, and it showed in his blue aura for it was now tinged with red at the edges, making it look somewhat purple. He looked around at all those present and wondered if any of them knew what had just happened. By the time he had felt the surge of power it was too late to do more than one thing. He had had the choice of either saving his skin and letting this Ranma person die, or to take one for the team, so to speak. He hadn't been in a squad for over ten years, but the instinct to save someone's life at the cost of his own had remained.

What really struck him as odd was the fact that Katreen had not visited him yet. Usually she is there to speak with him about what had just transpired, but this time she wasn't. That had him more paranoid than he was willing to admit he was.

Ami was now worried. From the readings she was getting, it was all pointing to Sailor Pluto. The ball of energy and the time/space rift both pointed at the Outer Senshi. From the looks of things Joram was very angry. If he found out that the person that had just tried to kill him was supposed to be on their team, well, things might get ugly.

"What is it Ami?" Minako asked from her side sounding somewhat worried and a little afraid. She kept on glancing to where Joram was standing. He was quickly drying off with all that power swirling around him.

"Very bad news. Pluto thinks that he might be a threat." She had just deduced that conclusion herself from what information he had available, and it seemed to fit with what the Senshi of Time would do to someone that she perceived as a threat. "What I'd like to know is why she thinks Joram would be a large enough threat that she would have to try and kill him in cold blood." She mused to herself.

"I admit that I thought the same thing the first time we met, and he currently looks like he could tear through a tank, but the guy is harmless to his friends. Even I can see that now." Rei said from Ami's left hand side. For all her brave and complimentary words though, she too was casting Joram worried looks. They were all interrupted by Ranma waking up.

"What the hell just happened?" He shouted loudly looking around from where he had landed when he jumped up and took a defensive stance. Both Cologne and Shampoo were staring at Joram with incredulity written all over their faces.

"That's what I'd like to know." Joram practically growled out while looking at the point where the sphere of energy had come out of thing air. He could tell that some sort of portal had been used for the attack, but he couldn't quite figure it out. It was as though whoever had made the portal had also dismantled it when they had closed it so that it couldn't easily be recreated. That was a smart thing to do he admitted to himself, otherwise he would have had it figured out by now and would have been through a new portal to have a little "talk" with his aggressor.

"I'm gonna go scout the area, see if whoever did this is still around." Ranma said as he leapt to the rooftops and sped off without another word. Shampoo looked at her great grandmother, who nodded to her, then took off after Ranma. Joram just shook his head. The culprit wasn't going to be anywhere near here. He could feel as Ranma and Shampoo made their way around the area in a circular pattern. At the rate of speed they were travelling at they were going to be out of range soon.

He stood and took several deep breaths to calm himself, and at the same time let his aura drop out of the visible spectrum. He channelled a bit of chakra to keep his reflexes sharp just in case. He then looked around the area to take in the details. He really shouldn't have ignored the details this long, but no one's perfect though.

That was when he noticed the unusual coloured fire flickering here and there.

"Makoto!" Joram called to her, "I need my shoulder satchel." Makoto jumped at the mention of her name, but responded quickly enough by just tossing him the satchel. "Thank you." Joram called over as he rooted through his pack for a few seconds. He found the scroll he was looking for and unrolled it beside the black and pink and burning fire. He then bit his thumb with his eye teeth and began a complex series of hand seals, every now and then smearing some blood on the unrolled scroll. Soon there was an intricate looking pattern between two columns of writing that looked strangely like a cross between Japanese and Chinese, but somewhat more rounded.

With a final seal Joram flipped the scroll over onto the small fire, centered on the pattern inscribed in blood. Cologne had watched the whole thing and was amazed at what she was seeing. This young man could mould his chakra in ways she hadn't even dreamed of in her long three hundred years of life. She was definitely going to have to get him alone somehow to pick his brain.

Joram smiled to himself. He could now study this odd new technique that had been used against him. What he was really hoping for though, was to be able to sense the build up of energies used in that attack. That way he would have a little more warning than just a second or two. Now if he could just get a good look at that portal that had been used…. With a small resigned sigh he once again stood up and looked around. He was really starting to get worried at the fact that Katreen hadn't shown up as yet.

In fact, that had never happened before. Every time he had died, she had always been there to greet him. Well, she had been waiting in the castle to greet him at any rate. Makoto seemed to have noticed his concerned look because she made her way over.

"Are you all right?" She asked as she came up to him. She looked somewhat shaken. Well, seeing someone die and come back to life would do that to someone he guessed. He gave a mental shrug.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just haven't seen Katreen yet." Joram said as he looked around yet again for his oldest friend.

"Oh." Makoto said. For some reason she was feeling insanely jealous. Then again, she was a goddess. How could she compete with a goddess? Was she really going to try to compete with a goddess? Was she that set on Joram? For that matter, was Joram set on Katreen, or was he just as oblivious to things like that as he seemed?

"Yeah, whenever I die she is there to have a word with me about what had happened. She wasn't here this time though." He finished his little reverie and gave himself a small shake. "Anyway, I shouldn't be worrying you with small details like this. She'll show up sometime soon. Of that I am sure." He turned away and headed to the shrivelled up monkey thing.

"So, Cologne, you seem to be the most knowledgeable person here, do you have any idea what just happened?"

"No sonny, I haven't ever encountered anything like this before. I would say that you have made a very powerful enemy though. Not even son-in-law has made an enemy this powerful." She said sounding impressed.

"It's not something to be proud of lady." Joram mumbled to himself as he continued to look around.

"I would like, however, to study that technique you just used, as well as the one you used in the restaurant." Cologne said, eyeing him shrewdly. "I would also like to know how you knew my name."

"As for the training, no. Not unless you agreed to become one of the Konoha Shinobi. As for your name, well, I'm just good."

"You're from that clan?" Cologne said, now giving him an odd look. "I thought they went into hiding nearly a century ago." She said.

"What do you mean, "hiding"." Joram asked. "I ran into someone from that same village earlier today." Joram said, somewhat puzzled and curious at the same time.

"I mean they went into hiding because they have been hunted for some time. There are several groups out there who would love nothing better than to annihilate that clan." Cologne said, now trying to gauge his reaction.

"And why would they wish to do that?" Joram asked, barely speaking above a whisper.

"Because the last Hokage that ruled over them was a tyrant. He tried to wipe out other villages that might pose a threat to his own, but he failed. Several of the largest clans and villages grouped together for a final assault. When they arrived he believed he could wipe them all out at once. He nearly succeeded." Cologne paused for a moment, her eyes focused elsewhere. "But nevertheless they succeeded in taking him out. A large portion of the villagers managed to escape with the most important relics and scrolls, but enough remained that it guaranteed the death of the village.

"We took what was left and divided it amongst the conquerors. Those who were not fighters and wished to have lives elsewhere were permitted to do so. But we burned the village to the ground to make sure that nobody would come and use the place again."

"Hmm. Sounds interesting." Joram said as he gazed upwards at the stars above. "Well, I can't speak for those who lived an hundred years ago, but I know that I want to bring the village back. I can't say if the last Hokage was an evil man or not, but that doesn't matter now. I will just have to do my best to bring my home back from ruin."

"How is it that you claim to be from the Hidden Leaf, yet know nothing of it's history?" Cologne asked. She wanted to get to the bottom of this curious mystery.

"How is it, eh?" Joram mused to himself. "Well Cologne, I can say without a doubt in my mind that I was born way before you."

"Now, now sonny. You seem to have a sense of humour to rival that of son-in-law. There is no way you could be older than me." She chuckled. Unless…. "You aren't from this time, are you?" She asked, somewhat uncertain as to how she should react/feel.

"That is correct. But that is all in the past now. I have no way to get home, and even if I did, well, it wouldn't make much of a difference in what will happen now. I am going to contact a person that I met recently and arrange for a meeting. I will bring my village back." With that he turned to the four girls that had come with him. "Here, take the carpet and head back home. I need to go and do some thinking. You probably won't see me again for another ten days or so." Joram said as he took the carpet out of his satchel and handed it to Makoto.

"You'll be that long?" Makoto asked. She didn't like the idea of him going off on his own in this odd world.

"Yeah, that's right. Don't worry though; it is mainly to get some matters taken care of so that I can be integrated into this new world I find myself in. See you all later." He wave to the girls, who in turn, waved back at him.

"If the carpet goes missing Cologne, I'll know where to look." Joram said with a faint grin then jumped to the nearest rooftop and vanished into the night.

"He is a dangerous person to be around." Cologne muttered to herself then turned to the four girls in her back yard.

"You all might want to go home now; there isn't anything else to see here." She said as she hopped back onto her staff and pogoed to the back door of the restaurant.

The four friends all looked at each other and shrugged. Ami, though, brought up a good point when she asked if any of them know how to use a magic carpet. All just shook their head. So it was that a taxi was called from a nearby payphone and they all made their way home on an empty stomach.

'Now, where was that bank I used the other day?' Joram asked himself as he roof hopped around where he remembered the bank being. There were more parks around than he had thought there would be. You know, find the bank across the street from the park, and it would all be good. Not working this time though. There seemed to be several banks that nested just outside of a park.

Finally though, about mid-day he found the bank he was looking for. He really hoped that the same girl he had met before was working today. She had been nice to him, so he wanted to return the favour by becoming a regular. Now, if only he could remember her name….

As he walked up to the bank he noticed that the crew that was fixing the front window he had shattered was just finishing off the final touches. He nodded to himself to see a job well done. Of course, he didn't recognize most of the materials they were using, but he could see they were doing, or rather, had done a great job.

It just so happened that the same fellow that had been on duty the last time he had come in was there today. That made Joram smile. He liked doing business with a place that had people he recognized.

"Hey there! How're you doing today?" Joram waved to the fellow as he approached. Said security mook looked startled for a moment before he recognized Joram. He was dressed differently, but he still had on that odd crown like thing. He was somewhat glad to see the guy again, for he had worried about the strangely dressed man that he had met several days before. He was especially glad that he wasn't wearing his swords today. Asuza would definitely be glad to see him once again. Grin. She hadn't stopped talking about him since he left the other day.

"Hello there stranger!" The security guard replied. "How've you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing quite well, thank you. Say, would that lady I spoke to the other day happen to be in today? She was really nice, and I would love to work with her again." Joram said as he got to the security guy and clasped hands with him.

"Oh, you mean Ms. Uzuha? Yeah, she's in today. She's on her lunch break though; should be back in another ten to fifteen minutes or so." Security dude replied. "If you like you may sit over there and wait for her to arrive." He suggested while pointing to the waiting area a little further into the large lobby. Joram nodded his thanks and headed over to the waiting area. A thought occurred to him as he sat down: he still hadn't asked that security guy his name. Ah, well. What did it matter?

So he sat down and pulled out one of his spell books and began to read. It had been almost a week since he had memorized any spells. He didn't want to become rusty. That would not go over well with his last master. Then again, the guy had probably been dead now for over two hundred thousand years. What did it matter? May as well memorize Magic Missile (yeah, yeah, it's a D&D spell) a few times. Who knows? It might just come in handy.

'Oh, yeah!' Joram thought to himself. Her name was Uzuha Asuza! What a nice name. Though her first name kinda sounded like someone sneezing…. Asuza!! Bless you…. Ah, well. At least she was pretty. Joram shook his head abruptly and went back to memorizing the spell he was working on. Pretty soon he would have two of these things memorized. Sweet!

These ones were a lot easier to memorize 'cause they only had a verbal component to them. He was really glad that his old master was someone that had been a master of Higher Magic, otherwise he might have gotten bored with all the dancing around, and the eternal search for spell components. That was one of the major hassles about most magic. You have to find and keep in stock so many different types of ingredients/components that it took up most of your time. Well, unless you had mounds of gold with which you could hire adventurers to do the dirty work for you. Then it would cost you tons of gold. And where would that come from? You would have to hire out your services to some lord or king to earn yourself some money, or charge up and coming mages an arm and a leg to use your library. Sigh. It just went on and on in one huge, viscous, cycle.

That was why he had found someone that taught higher magics. No running around for spell components. His old master, one Zeddikias, had been glad to teach someone what he knew. In fact, he had been somewhat surprised that he could learn that particular way of magic…. Ah, well. All's well that ends well.

Joram heard someone come into the bank and looked up. Ah, good. There was Uzuha Asuza, but who were the people with the masks on? Oh, wait. He knew. They were bank robbers. He hadn't seen one of those in quite some time; and now he was privy to the sight of four of them. What really annoyed him though, was the fact that one of them had taken Ms. Uzuha hostage. So before any of the aggressors took notice of him, he ducked down in the large arm chair he was in and used his Henge technique to turn himself into a black cat. Step 1; complete.

As the bank robbers came in they brandished their weapons for all to see and made everyone lay down on the floor, save the tellers. So, Joram made his way over to one of the cubicles that the bankers used to set up new accounts with clients. Two of the robbers did a quick search for anyone who might be hiding, but found no one. Well, the one who seemed to be overweight found cat-type Joram sitting on a chair in one of the cubicles, but ignored him. So when the overweight robber was out of sight, Joram let the transformation drop and began to do several hand seals as quickly as he could. He could hear one of the robbers calling out orders for the cashiers to bring out all the money they had on hand, threatening all the while to kill the woman, Asuza, if they didn't hurry.

In a matter of moments, there were now six Joram's hiding in the cubicle. "Number Two: you make your way over to the door staying to the right. Number Three; you make your way over to the door staying to the left. Number Four; you go and take a position behind that little tree over there, the one halfway to the outside doors, Five, you do the same on the other side of the lobby. Number Six, I'll need you to transform into a security guard like the guy over there, you know, the one we don't know the name of yet. Then, when I give the signal, a thumbs up, you try and arrest the robbers." Joram said and all five other Jorams who were listening nodded. "OK guys…. Break!"

With that said and done, the first four Jorams quickly, and quietly, climbed along the walls and ceiling to reach their targets. Number Six transformed quickly and crouched down. Joram looked down at what his Dragon Silk armour looked like and shrugged. He guessed that he looked normal enough. T-shirt, black, with black cargo pants and those new boots he had bought. He quickly pulled out his katana and wakasashi and belted them on, wakasashi on his back, hilt sticking out to his left side, while his katana stuck over his right shoulder.

"Wish me luck Number Six." Joram said with a grin.

"What good will that do you? You've seen what those gun things can do to a person." Number Six replied sarcastically.

"Your support is overwhelming." Joram replied with a sigh. Number Six only replied with a grin. So Joram got up and made his way over to where all the fun was happening.

"Wow, a bank robbery!" Joram exclaimed as he rounded the corner. "This is m-" Joram was cut off by one of the guys as he jumped around to face him and accidentally discharged at him. Good thing the guy was a terrible shot. He missed by a good foot.

"Who the hell are you?!" Jumpy asked as he took better aim. "Get on the floor now!" He yelled and used his gun to point to the floor, then back to him. Joram complied. Jumpy didn't seem to want to get closer than he had to. 'Must be because of the swords.' Joram guessed to himself as he lay on the floor like every one else.

"Is this good?" Joram asked, giving a thumbs up.

"Shut up if you don't want to die!" Jumpy yelled. Joram guessed that the other three weren't paying him any mind because they were so occupied with all the money they were steeling. A moment later, Number Six, disguised as a security guard came out of hiding.

"Drop your weapons, NOW!" He yelled at the top of his voice. Now, this time the other three took notice and turned their weapons on poor Number Six. For a brief instant you could see blood flying everywhere as he was shot too many times to count. With that happening, Numbers Two through Five came out of where they were hiding and disarmed the first three robbers with extreme prejudice (this is supposed to be PG 13ish, no more details). Joram himself got up and sprinted the fifteen feet to the robber that was holding poor Asuza hostage. As he sprinted he performed the necessary hand seals to use the air surrounding robber number four to take hold of his gun and wrench it out of his hands. With a shocked look on his face he received a flying kick to the head that sent him flying several feet back to slam into the wall behind him. Asuza just stood there in shock, not believing what had just happened.

She was still in shock after having seen that poor security guard shot so brutally, then disappear in a puff of smoke! And where had all those other ninja come from? And where did they poof to?! This was all too much for your standard bank teller. So she just stood there blinking at nothing. She finally snapped out of it when that guy from the other day waved his hand in front of her face to see if she was all right.

"Oh." It sounded silly, but that was all her addled brain could come up with on such short notice.

"Areyouallright?" Joram asked her slowly.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said as her brain started into overdrive, as her brain processed what had just happened. "Where did you come from?" She asked, with a somewhat shaky voice.

"Oh, I was just over there. I guess they missed me when they went by." He said, then grinned. "I wasn't about to let them know their mistake."

"I would guess not." She said with a weak laugh. They both turned as they heard movement of to her left, his right. The man that Joram had kicked in the head had pulled a 9mm from his jacket and was pointing it at them with a shaky arm.

"One of you isn't bullet proof." He said with a chuckle that gurgled somewhat as it came out, some blood leaking down his chin. He then fired.

Asuza couldn't believe how bad her day was going. First she was taken hostage, now she was going to die because the guy wanted to go out with a bang. Joram, that was his name, tried pushing her out of the way, but the bullet was already entering her chest. She felt some pressure there, like someone had hit her with a boxing glove or something. It must have been a good hit, because she suddenly could no longer stay on her feet.

She saw Joram throw his wakasashi at the man on the floor, but that view was soon out of sight, for she was now looking at the ceiling. She hadn't noticed before, but around the light fixtures there were several cob webs that needed to be cleaned off. Funny how she had never noticed that before.

'Oh, there's Joram.' She thought to herself as she lay on the ground. He looked so worried for some reason. 'I really should have asked him to go for coffee when he was here last. Maybe I'll ask him when I get up. Just as soon as I catch my breath.' She lay there gasping for air, watching as Joram did something. It was the most unusual sight. He was kneeling above her and glowing blue. It was hard to say though because the light in the room seemed to be dimming. She wondered idly if another storm had blow over and was blocking the sun. That could be why she was feeling so cold. Or maybe it was because she was lying on the floor. She had never done so before, but she supposed it would be cold. Being tile and what not.

'I wonder why I'm so tired?' She thought to herself as she lay there. She looked up at the fading face of Joram and smiled. 'I'll definitely ask him to coffee later.' Was what she thought, then slept.

The man with the gun shot. He tried to push Asuza out of the way, but the bullet was travelling much too fast for him to do anything about. He watched the spray of blood as the bullet entered her left lung at an angle. He didn't know if it hit her heart or not, but it was a wound that would kill. Before he could help her though, he had to make sure the robber couldn't hurt anyone else. He reached to his lift hip with his left hand and, in one fluid motion, drew and threw the wakasashi. It hit the robber in the chest, impaling him through the heart.

He turned again to see Asuza beginning to fall back, so he lunged and caught her before she hit the floor so that she wouldn't cause any more damage. Joram then laid her down and tried to examine the wound. It was very difficult though, for there was to real way to determine at what angle, exactly, the bullet entered at. So he lifted her, ever so gently, and searched for an exit wound, but to no avail. He then laid her down on the ground and looked her in the eye. She blinked ever so slowly at him. He had to hurry.

There were people starting to crowd around, asking him many questions that he just ignored. He performed several hand seals for the jutsu that would allow him to, basically, give her a physical so that he could determine what was damaged and what wasn't. The people around him gasped as he started to glow blue due to his aura that was no longer being contained on a conscious level. Her left lung was definitely shot through, but it seems that the bullet ricocheted off the inside of a rib and grazed her heart. Her heart was slowly failing. It was getting tired and slowing down, just as her breathing was slowing down.

He again looked into her eyes as he worked to save her, and she smiled at him, just as her eyes glazed over in death. He looked over to his left, there was a space between people there where he could see Katreen speaking with Asuza.

'I'll wish to speak with you both tonight.' Joram sent to Katreen. She turned to him and nodded. Asuza just looked stunned. Katreen turned to Asuza and said something as she guided her around a corner and out of sight. Joram was interrupted by someone pulling him around to face them. He noticed that it was the security guy, and he also notice that the security guy had his gun pointed at his chest. There were also tears streaming down his face.

"If you hadn't done what you'd done, she'd be alive right now!" He yelled in Joram's face. Joram didn't have enough emotional energy left to disagree with him. "Look at her! She's dead because of you!" His hand was shaking so bad that Joram doubted the security guy could even hit him, even from three feet away. "You killed her!" Spittle was now flying from the security guy's lips as he ranted. Joram wasn't paying him much attention. He just turned and walked over to the robber who was holding his wakasashi for him, and took it back. He cleaned the blade on the man's jacket before re-sheathing it. The robber looked so angry. He then turned and went back to kneel beside Asuza. She was smiling. He reached out and closed her eyes.

This was apparently the wrong thing to do, for the security guy yelled out something and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him in the back, right under the left shoulder blade. That was a pain he had never felt before. Even though the Dragon Silk Armour prevented the bullet from going through, the force of the bullet was still there; resulting in a broken rib. That didn't stop Joram from spinning, katana in hand, and neatly slicing the security guy's gun in half. Meaning to say, the barrel was now gone, as well as the slide mechanism that allowed the gun to re-load itself, for it was a 9mm.

Said security guy just broke down, crying for the late Asuza. He dropped the ruined gun and curled up on the floor in the foetal position, rocking back and forth. Joram re-sheathed his katana and looked down at Asuza. He had seen more people die that he could count. He had seen more people die that he had known for years than he could care to remember. But for some reason, this one hurt a lot more that those ones did from the distant past. He sat there wondering why it was that this one person's death could affect him so. So, he did what he had done in the past; he reached out and took a strand of her hair. It was a nice blue-black colour, like unto his own. He then placed it in his satchel for safekeeping.

After a few minutes though, he was again interrupted, this time by the police. These guys looked a lot more competent than the security dude did, before his break down that is. Joram watched as a couple of them skirted around the odd scene in front of them to get to the people who were a little further back. Two of the officers stopped in front of him and demanded that he disarm himself, very slowly. So, with making very slow movements he undid the belt that kept the wakasashi on and let it slide to the floor. He then undid the other belt that kept the katana on his back, and it too fell to the floor. Once that was done, he was instructed to lay down on the floor, face first with his arms behind his back. Again he complied, and was hand-cuffed. Then the officer patted him down, presumably to see if he was concealing any weapons. After checking him out he left Joram to lay on the floor all by himself.

He heard the police begin to question those that were there as to what had happened. Most of the people must have been in shock, because only one person began to speak. He began by telling how he was working like he always did at his till when he say the tall, oddly dressed stranger enter the building and begin to speak with Toma, the security guard (sorry, had to finally give him a name). They seemed to get along fairly well, so he assumed they knew one another.

'That guy must not have been there the last time'. Joram thought to himself as he lay there listening to what the man had to say.

He then went on to tell the police that Joram went to sit in one of the waiting chairs. He told them that he hadn't seen him from that point until he appeared and spoke with the bank robbers. Anyway, it was about twenty minutes later or so when Uzuha Asuza came bank from her lunch, followed by the bank robbers, who hurriedly took her hostage and began to demand for all the money in their tills.

Now this part is where the police start having problems with his story. He went on to describe how, after several minutes, Joram came out and began to say something and one of the robbers shot at him, but missed. Joram was then instructed to lay on the floor, and just moments later, an unknown security guard came out of where Joram had and demanded that the robbers drop their weapons. His voice began to crack as he described how the unknown security guard was brutally shot down, but then disappeared. By the time he looked back, five or so ninja had come out of nowhere and did what they did to the robbers, gulp.

He then went on to describe how Joram shot up, did something weird, and made the robbers gun fly out of his hands just before he did a flying kick to his head that sent him flying. He then spoke a couple of words with Asuza before the robber took out a hidden gun and shot her. At this point the man has to stop for a moment to compose himself, for his voice began to break. After a moment, he continued.

"That was when the guy with the swords threw one of his swords at him and began to examine Asuza. I can't believe how fast he moved! I mean, one moment he was standing there, then he was trying to get Asuza out of the way and was throwing his sword. It was like I was watching a movie or something…." He seemed to drift off for a moment, and then he continued, "Then Toma snapped. He started to accuse the swordsman of having killed Asuza. The swordsman just ignored him while he retrieved his other sword, then went back to where Asuza lay. Toma just started to yell more, then shot at him. From that distance I didn't think Toma would miss, but I guess he did because the swordsman took and sliced his gun in half. That's when Toma just broke down and started to cry. The swordsman just sat there until you all arrived." He finished with a long sigh.

The police officers then started to question the other people there. They all agreed on the story, though one person could have sworn that the swordsman had actually been hit, but the lack of blood or a bullet hole seemed to dismiss his statement.

That made him think of something. Not about being shot, but being looked at. He subtly did a couple of hand seals, and suddenly his diadem was no longer something made of mythril, but a braided cord holding back his hair. While he was at it, he made himself a couple of inches shorter, more narrow of shoulder and chest, his skin and hair a few shades more pale, his nose a wee bit linger, and his jaw somewhat more narrow. He made his eyes somewhat more slanted, and his mouth; more narrow. He grinned. He was now someone who was similar in appearance, but not the same person. He also made his Dragon Silk Armour envelope his shoulder satchel so that they wouldn't notice it and ask any uncomfortable questions about it. From what he could tell, magic was almost completely dead to the people, so something as complex as his bag of holding would engender many questions.

Some other people arrived while the police were questioning the people at the bank. There were two of them, and they had what looked like a bed on wheels that they brought in with them. They dropped some bags on the floor beside the bed on wheels and began to check all those who were down. He guessed that they were some sort of mobile doctors or something. He had seen their like when Katreen had shown him an abridged version of the past two hundred thousand years. They first went to Asuza, but soon one of them took out a sheet and covered her. They then went to the man who Joram had killed, and again a sheet was placed. They made quick work of the others who were, after all, only unconscious. They had several broken bones apiece, but they would live.

After what Joram guessed have been several hours since he had been handcuffed, an officer pulled him to his feet and steered him to a corner for questioning. He was asked where he had been when the robbers had entered the bank, how it was that they had missed him when they had gone and searched for anyone who might be hiding and what not. He answered the officer as simply and as truthfully as he dared. The officer (well that's what he was calling him, even though he was dressed differently from the others, but he was wearing the same kind of badge) seemed to be content with his explanations. Then asked, "So, why did you kill that one guy, and not the security officer? It seems to me that they both wanted to kill you."

"Why indeed." Joram said as he stood there with his hands behind his back. "On the one hand, the robber would have killed me and others without thinking. On the other hand, Toma only tried to kill me because he believed that I was responsible for killing Ms. Uzuha." Joram said.

"So that makes it ok that he tried to kill you then?" The oddly dressed officer asked, somewhat incredulously.

"No, but it would not have been right to kill a person while they were not thinking clearly. Too many people have met their maker in that way for me to want to send yet another. To be clear of thought is the way you should go, not filled with anger, remorse, or hate. It just makes things harder on those that have passed on." Joram said in that calm to of voice of his.

"The way you say it, it sounds like you have had experience going over to the other side." The officer asked, now somewhat curious and sceptical at the same time.

"Something like that." Was all Joram would say on that subject.

"Hmm." The officer hmm'd. "Now, you know that you will have to be taken in and questioned, most likely charged for murder for killing that man over there."

"I would expect nothing less."

"I will need to see your identification, passport or whatever else you might have." The officer said to him.

"Sorry, I left them at home." Joram said with a sorry look on his face.

"Right. Well, we'll have to take your finger prints anyway. We'll find out who you are shortly enough then." The officer said as he motioned for one of the other normally dress police officers to come over. "Take him in for processing and questioning." He then turned and left the other officer to take over.

"This way." He said as he took Joram's right elbow in his left hand and led him to the exit. Another officer gathered up his swords and followed along. Joram didn't say a thing, and went along as meekly as he could.

So it was that Joram that was led out of the bank later that afternoon. He was somewhat annoyed by the fact that people with odd devices kept on flashing bright bursts of light at him though. He was soon put into the back section of one of those mechanized vehicles that he had been wanting to take apart. There was a wire screen that separated the front and back seats, he presumed that it was to keep the people in the front seat safe from those in the back seat. He sighed. It was very uncomfortable sitting there with his arms behind his back, so he just pulled his arms under his bum, then under and then finally over his feet. That was much better. The two police officers had already seated themselves in the front and made the vehicle move.

Now this was getting good. He leaned forward to watch how it was all done. It seemed that by pushing one pedal the vehicle would move forward, and pushing the other would make it stop. Now there was an odd stick that he had moved, but he couldn't guess at what it did. The big wheel was obvious. So he watched the one to his left control the vehicle and ignore their conversation, trying to memorize how much to turn the wheel, when and why he would stop, and so forth. It was all very interesting and somewhat complex. He would have to study it in more detail later.

Soon though, the ride ended and he was instructed to exit the vehicle. Upon seeing his hands though, the police officers had a bit to say to him. He only shrugged as one of them took the handcuffs off and again made him put his hands behind his back so that they could be bound there. Worked out for him though. That way they wouldn't be able to see him doing his jutsu.

They led him to a room that was a little ways into the building. It was all white, save for the metal table and chairs in the centre of the room. There was also a large mirror on one what that seemed somewhat out of place. Joram took a look at himself and grinned slightly. There was no way anyone would recognize him. He was then placed in one of the chairs and told to wait. So he did.

With a small sigh, Joram closed his eyes and tilted his head forward as though he were sleeping. Taking deep, regular, breaths he let his senses expand. He could sense people walking by his room, alone or in pairs. He could also sense that there was another room behind that mirror, and that there were another two people in there. He guessed that the mirror was only one way so that the people on the other side could watch him without his knowledge. It was odd, one was chaotic good, while the other was lawful good. Normally that combination of personalities would get on each other's nerves, but he didn't sense anything of the sort. There was a sense of interest, curiosity, boredom, but above them all; duty. That was something that interested him. There weren't a lot of law enforcers in his day that would have such a strong sense of duty. The only other place that he had felt such a strong sense of duty was when he was either going through an army, and even then it was somewhat shaky, or when he was in Konoha. Admittedly, there were some people walking around in the building that seemed to be less than enthusiastic, but that was to be expected. He didn't think that there was any organizations out there that had employees/members/or whatever that were 100 loyal. That would be just plain creepy.

So it was that he waited for another couple of hours, pretending to sleep the whole time. He followed the movements of the people behind the mirror, and those that wandered the halls outside; all in an attempt to alleviate his boredom. It was difficult for him to just sit around inside doing nothing. If he had been permitted to read, then that would have been fine. But he really didn't want them to know he had other things hidden about his person.

He also went over in his head the events that had transpired at the bank. He went through it over and over, going over different scenarios. He really should have left one clone in hiding to make sure that nothing happened. It was something he would have done in his own time, but for some reason he had overlooked it in this day and age. He wondered why that was. Maybe he had supposed that people had become more civilized…. No, not after what Katreen had shown him. People had stayed just as vicious and blood thirsty over the millennia as they had been in his day. Had he subconsciously dismissed these people as being weak? As being a low priority threat that could be taken lightly? Was that it? Had he become complacent and arrogant? Too confident in his own abilities? Had is own pride blinded him so much that someone had to die to show him his errors?

Joram gave himself a mental slap in the face. This line of questioning was not going to help him get out of here, nor was it going to get him into the mindset needed to do what he had to do. Later tonight he was going to have to speak with Katreen and Asuza. He wasn't looking forward to it, but is had to be done. He would make Asuza the offer that he had made several other people in the past. He didn't know if she would accept the offer or reject it outright. He didn't know her well enough to even guess at what she would say. He would make the offer, and that would end his obligation to her.

While thus contemplating, the door to his small waiting room was opened. This startled him enough to open his eyes to see who it was. He really should have been paying more attention. Looking up he saw the same officer that had spoken to him earlier that afternoon walk in with another, taller, officer. Well, he assumed it was another officer, he had on the same kind of badge as the first one did. This second officer had the same dark hair and eyes as the first one did, but he was more slight of build and moved with a fluidity that spoke of training in the art.

"I don't believe I introduced myself earlier. My name is Inspector Fuji, and this is Inspector Kirunawa. We will be the ones in charge of this case." He said as way of introduction. "Now, Insp. Kirunawa will take your finger prints while we talk." He said as Kirunawa stepped forward with a case in hand. He placed it on the table and took out several articles. Among them were several pieces of paper and a small, flat, box of some sort. He then went behind Joram and undid his handcuffs.

"So, let's get things started by getting your name." Insp. Fuji said as he took out a pen and notepad.

"My name is Mitsune Aoshi, age seventeen." Joram said with at straight face.

"Where do you live?"

"I have no residence at this time."

Insp. Fuji looked up at this and gave him an odd look. He seemed to shrug it off though. During this time Insp. Kirunawa had taken is left hand and pressed it onto, he guessed was, an ink pad and then placed it on one of the pieces of paper he had taken out of the case. He was now starting on his right hand.

"What school do you attend?"

"I do not attend school anymore."

"Are you trying to be difficult Mr. Mitsune?" Fuji asked, now getting somewhat annoyed.

"Not at all. I am just answering the questions you are giving me." Joram said with an innocent look. Kirunawa just grunted as he finished taking Joram's finger prints and handed him a small, paper, packet of some kind. "What do I do with this?" Joram, or rather Aoshi asked, somewhat confused.

"It is a moist towellette. You open it and use what's inside to clean off your fingers." Fuji said, now becoming more calm. This boy must have come out of the back side of nowhere to not know what a moist towellette was. If he was from way out of town, this could get interesting. But from what he was hearing, by the accent anyway, the boy was from Tokyo and quite well spoken. Not someone from a rural area. Not a normal person from a rural area anyway.

"So, what were you doing in the bank today?" Fuji asked, trying very hard not to sound threatening.

"I had come by to see what I would need to set up an account." Joram lied.

"Tell me; where does your family live?" Fuji asked, trying to look concerned.

"I don't have any family left. They all died some time ago." Joram said in as neutral a voice as he could manage. Make the guy think he was still choked up about it.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Fuji said quietly. "So, what made you decide to use that particular bank?"

"One bank is as good as another, I'd say." Joram replied lightly, trying to make it look like he was grateful for the change of topic.

"True enough. So, where did you get those swords, and why were you carrying them around with you?"

"My father made them for me before he died, he was an amazing weapon smith." Joram said somewhat excitedly. "As for why I was carrying them around with me, I don't have anyplace to leave them. I don't trust people enough to leave them somewhere."

"I wouldn't trust most people these days either." Fuji replied as he leaned forward. "Now tell me, where did you learn how to fight like you do? From what I hear, you can fight well enough to be in the movies."

"I was taught how to fight since I can remember. My father trained me up until he died. I have kept studying the art as a way of thanking him for what he had taught me." Joram replied, this time truthfully.

"Did he train you how to kill?" Fuji asked, suddenly looking, or rather trying, intimidating.

"Fuji, my father taught me that all life is sacred and that I should hold it as such. But when it comes down to either letting someone take my life, or ending theirs; there is no question. I will walk away." Joram said as calmly as he could while staring the inspector right in the eye. He guessed he had gotten his point across, because Insp. Fuji looked away. "I was not about to let that man take another life if I could stop it. I couldn't stop him from shooting Ms. Uzuha, but I could stop him from harming anyone else."

"So you are saying that you killed him in cold blood?" This was the first time Insp. Kirunawa spoke up. He sounded angry.

"No, my blood was near boiling after seeing someone shot before my eyes." Joram said, this time turning to regard Kirunawa. "Are you telling me you would have done differently?" Joram asked the question in as insulting a manner as he could. It worked.

"I wouldn't have killed him!" Insp. Kirunawa said hotly.

"If it came down to that robber killing again because you had let him live, what would you have done? Would you have again tried to incapacitate him, hoping that he will stay down, instead of putting down yet another person? If so, you are a coward." Joram said, now completely turning away from the inspector, who was, incidentally, looking like he might just throttle Joram on the spot.

"That's enough Aoshi!" Insp. Fuji slammed the flat of his hand down on the table, making quite a loud bang. "We are not the ones under question here. You killed a man. What's more, you are not co-operating with us. You have no identification on you, and you say you have no family. Wait here until we get back." He said as he got up and motioned for Kirunawa to follow. He followed shortly after having gathered his things and giving Joram one last glare. Joram pretended not to see it.

About five minutes later or so, the door opened again to admit a young woman, well she looked to be in her mid twenties anyway, who brought in a bottle of yellow fluid and something in a small package.

"Inspector Fuji said you might be hungry." She said in explanation. Joram could see that there was another officer at the door watching. She then placed the items on the table in front of him.

"Thank you miss." Joram said as politely as he could. "Thank the inspector for me as well."

"Sure." Was all she said as she hurriedly exited the room. The officer gave him a hard look and closed the door. Joram just shrugged to himself and inspected the packaged item. It looked like a sandwich of some sort, but he couldn't tell what the pinkish filling was supposed to be. There was some lettuce and cucumber as well. He hoped it tasted good. The bottle of yellow fluid turned out to be orange juice. It was tasty enough, but nothing like the real thing. The bottle was made out of the substance he had come to know as plastic. He shrugged. He wouldn't need a weapon anyway. He opened the package for the sandwich and took a bite. Hmm. Some sort of fish. Tasty though. Before anyone behind the mirror could blink, the sandwich had disappeared, and the juice was mostly gone. What could he say? He was hungry.

It was only another couple of minutes before someone came in to take away the garbage. It was the same young lady as before. "Thank you again for the food." Joram said as she collected said garbage.

"You're welcome." She said not meeting his eye. He guessed that word had gotten around that he had been taken in for killing that robber. He just sighed and leaned back in his chair. This wasn't the first time he had been taken in for questioning, just the first time he couldn't get out of it right away. Boy this new world was sure different from the one he had left behind. The young lady left again without saying anything else, so he was left once again to his own devices to amuse himself.

Not wanting to reveal that he had hidden items on his person, he couldn't very well just take out some juggling balls from his shoulder satchel, or drawing materials, or whatever else might be in there that might help to alleviate his boredom. He was in quite a pickle.

"So Kentaro, have you found anything on young friend yet?" Insp. Fuji asked as he typed in his report on his old computer one handed while he sipped at his coffee.

"That's the funny thing. The only Mitsune Aoshi I've been able to find died in Hiroshima when the bomb dropped." Kentaro replied to him. "As for the finger prints; nothing. Not a single match, or even potential match was found." Kentaro just shook his head in frustration. "I think that we might have stumbled onto something that's over our heads."

"You might be right. But then again not everyone is in the system. As for the name, well, he could just be nervous or something." Insp. Fuji said as he turned to his partner. "We might as well send this case to the higher ups in hope that they can do something about this. We aren't responsible for taking care of people who don't exist." He said as he gave Kentaro a firm look.

"That's true. But I don't want to hand it over yet. I think that this Aoshi might be something more than he is saying. For one thing; what was he really doing in the bank? And what about the things the witnesses said about him? Why did he let himself get arrested if he was as good as they say he is? He could have easily avoided all this hassle if he had just run off after it was all said and done? Again: why wait?"

"Those are some good questions my friend." Insp. Fuji said as he ran his hand over his short cropped hair and sighed. "I was hoping that by passing him off to the higher ups we could get those questions answered. But I'll see what I can do about being able to compare his finger prints with other countries databases."

"Thanks. How about I send someone to take him to a holding cell for the night? I really don't want to let him go and risk never seeing him again." Kentaro said as he began to arrange his notes and other papers into a folder that was marked: "Mitsune Aoshi".

"You do that. I'll see who I can get a hold of tonight." Insp. Fuji said as he waved his partner out the door while sitting at his desk. He sat there pondering the problem for a short time before shaking himself to clear his head. "Right old man." He said to himself. "You need to take care of things one at a time. First thing to do is to call up the chief to get this show on the road." He absently reached over and took a drink of coffee. He didn't seem to notice that it had gone cold.

Authors' Note:

I am sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I have been somewhat busy/ under the tyrannical rule of writer's block. Sigh.

The story hasn't really progressed, nor have things been particularly exciting, but I hope that some of you still enjoyed the chapter. I hope that I was able to do the Ranma & Sailor Moon characters justice (or even did them passably well). The story took a turn that my brain didn't quite expect: Joram being arrested, and Uzuha Asuza dieing. That just came out of nowhere, and I'm not sure what will happen now. I have a few ideas, but they will take most of Chapter 9 to deal with.

Again, if any of you have comments you wish to send along, please do so.

Just don't hunt me down and hurt me. I bruise easily. ;

email: 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Joram found that the jail cells of this day and age were a vast improvement over what had been around when he was younger. For one thing: no rats. They didn't particularly bother him, only they were dirty and tended to carry flees. Now he could get rid of flees easily, but better to not have to go through the effort of getting rid of them if you could just avoid getting them in the first place. Another thing: indoor plumbing. He thanked what gods were left to hear him for the blessing of indoor plumbing.

The bed was somewhat lacking, but he knew he shouldn't complain. He was lucky to have one at all. Heck, the place even had a window. He was up a good three stories, but that didn't bother him. He wouldn't be leaving by the window anyway. He looked around some more and found that there was a small black, rectangular, box in the corner of his cell that was protected by a metal mesh of some sort. In the center of the box like thing there was a small lens reflecting the light back to him. There was also a little red light that flashed on and off at a regular pace.

Pondering that box for a while he came to the conclusion that it might be some sort of scrying box made to keep an eye on those kept in the cell. He noticed though, that the toilet was sitting mostly underneath the scrying tool. This gave him an idea, then a plan.

With a grin on his face he made his way over to his bed, or rather his cot, laid down and pulled the sheet over his head. He might as well take a nap while he waited for the night to get well under way. The sheet would help hide the fact that his transformation would drop once he lost consciousness. He dreamt.

Switch Scene

Joram looked around at a place he had never before seen. It was a very nice view. He was standing on a small hill, among other hills in the area, and looking at a small village as several small clouds skitted across the noonday sky, throwing shadows across the empty streets. That was the thing; the place had no people, no animals, birds, whatever. It was like a ghost town. Though, given that the town was empty, it still had a homey feel to it. Like he was coming home.

Joram shook his head when it finally came to him. This was where Asuza had gone when she left the land of the living. This was her comfort place, the place where she most likely had grown up. He was happy that she had been able to go somewhere familiar and comfortable when she passed on. He had been to so many places that had been more like a personal hell than anything he could think of. Some people thought that they were going to horrible places when they passed on, and others seemed to think they would go to a place of eternal rest and comfort. It all depended on the person and what they felt their life had amounted to. Some seemed to think, deep down, that they would need to be punished for what they had done in life, while others thought they deserved more. What most people got was not what they thought they would.

You see, this place, this reality, was only a temporary stop-over on what came after. He didn't know what the rest of it all held, he hadn't ever been allowed his own eternal sleep. He didn't suppose it would be a great place, or even a place of torture. He just thought that it would be a place of rest, for he had precious little of that these past couple of hundred years.

Joram shook his head yet again. It was no use going over that again. He would only get there once he had acquired enough "points" as it were. With a rueful grin on his face Joram made his way down the hill to the town. There was one house in particular that seemed to have a more… vibrant feel to it. He couldn't explain what it was, but he knew that was where Uzuha was waiting.

He soon past by stores that sold fish, vegetables, household items of curious design, and a store that sold sweets. That gave him pause. He couldn't remember the last time he had gone and bought some sweets for himself. He made a metal note to go and buy some when he got back to the waking world.

He was soon standing in front of the house that he had noted from the hilltop. He stood there for a moment trying to get his thoughts in order. Every other time he had made the offer he had been in a place that he knew and understood. A place where he could fit in and not be noticed. This time though he was sorely out of his depth. He hadn't even gotten himself out of prison yet, let alone had a stable place to stay. He sighed. He felt responsible for what had happened, and in truth it was his fault in a way. But he could not have known that the robber had another weapon, let along stay conscious after getting one of Joram's flying kicks to the head.

Joram sighed a long sigh. He hadn't second guessed himself this much in a very long time. He had to get on with what he had decided to do. With a determined stride and tilt to head he approached the front door of the nice house. He looked up at the two story home in front of him and took a deep breath. This was it. He knocked.

He waited. He didn't know how long exactly he waited because time really had no meaning here. After what he though was long enough he knocked again, this time harder. After a moment he heard a muffled "coming". After a short moment the door opened up to reveal Asuza in a bathrobe that fit her really well. She also had a towel in one hand that had only managed to be half wrapped around her dripping hair before she got to the door. Both parties froze in shock.

Joram was somewhat stunned. Never before had anyone come to the door in a bathrobe. Asuza on the other hand hadn't been expecting Joram to come for a while yet. Katreen had said he would stop by in the evening to speak with her. So then, why was he here in the middle of the afternoon?

"Uh… hi." Was all Joram could think to say. Sure, he had seen plenty of women in a lot less in his day, but this had just come out of the blue.

"Um, ah…." It looked like she as stunned as he. Which was good and bad at the same time. "Come in. I was just finishing up. Come in and sit down. I'll be right down." She said as she started to herd him into the house. Joram couldn't help but notice that she really was quite pretty. She couldn't have been more than five foot five, but she had a slender, yet full build to her. She looked like she was in very good health. Joram couldn't help but grin at that. As good a health you could be in when you were dead anyway. "I'll be right down." She said again as she finally made a break for the stairs. Joram said down and tried to keep his mind on the matter at hand. It was a difficult task, but something he pulled off when he started to meditate.

His meditation was somewhat put to the test when he started to hear bumps, thumps, crashes and thuds coming from upstairs. He really began to hope that she was alright. Nobody should be making that much noise just to get dressed. He shook his head yet again. It was something he was really good doing at by now.

A few minutes, or some indeterminate time that only felt like a few minutes, Asuza came downstairs in a white sleeveless shirt that had a wide and low neckline, and some cut off shorts. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail while a few lochs of hair escaped and hung down the side of her face. She used her right hand to tuck one of the said lochs of hair behind an ear. She looked so different from what she had in the bank that he almost didn't recognize her. It was her eyes that he recognized though. They had that same warm look to them that he had seen as the light faded from her eyes earlier that day.

Joram had to look away for a moment. She had thought he had saved her. He had saved her, but had only prolonged the inevitable.

"So Asuza, how have you been?" Joram asked lamely.

"I've been better." She said with a small grin. "I'm glad that I was able to speak with Katreen after, you know, it happened." She said, a slight catch in her voice. "She said you would come and speak with me regarding an important matter." She said as she went and sat in an armchair across from his, folding her legs up under her as she sat.

"Yeah, about that." Joram said, once again trying to gather his thoughts. This was never easy. "I have a proposition for you. You don't have to agree right away, but within the next day." Joram started. "You have before you a choice to make. You can either continue going along the road of the afterlife," she winced at that, "or you can chose to come back with me. If you did come back with me, none of your friends or family could know, nor would they be able to know. You are dead, and to them you would continue to be dead."

Asuza just sat there and stared at him. He could see first excitement, then worry, then some sadness cross her face as she listened to what he had to say. "I couldn't say goodbye to anyone?" She asked quietly, though looking him in the eye.

"I'm afraid not Asuza. Everyone who you knew, your family, friends, co-workers, people you've met going about your daily life; all of them know that you are dead. As such, none will recognize you. Well except for strongly magical people, though there are very few of those around these days, so there is no need to worry about them. But for all others, you have passed on."

"So, what would I do? What could I do?" She asked him, sounding somewhat desperate.

"You could start a new life. You could go and do the things you've wanted to do. If you like you can even accompany me in my travels." Joram said with a shrug. "The choice is yours to make. You can either continue on through the after life, or you can once again live. It is not, however, an offer that you have the luxury to think over for a long time. You have about one day." Joram said.

She looked him in the eye for some time while chewing the tip of her lower lip between her front teeth. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She muttered something about coffee then opened her eyes. "I accept." She said with determination in her voice.

Joram sat there for several minutes regarding her, reading her facial expressions, but most importantly; he watched her eyes. He looked for anything that might be doubt, hesitation, or uncertainty. He found them all, but he found that determination was what overshadowed them all. At length he said, "I'm glad to hear it. It won't be easy, but you will not regret it." Joram said with his smile that disarmed so many people.

Sitting up straighter in his chair Joram regarded her with a rueful grin on his face. "You will have to wait here a little while longer though." Joram said, trying not to show how embarrassed he was. "I still have to, you know, escape from prison."

"How on earth did you wind up in prison!" She asked, not understanding how he could have been arrested.

"Well, I kind of killed the robber that shot you. So the police took me in for questioning. It seems that I don't have the appropriate papers to be in this country." Joram explained, going a bit red on the ears with embarrassment.

"You're an illegal alien!" She exclaimed, now getting somewhat angry.

"Oh, would you look at that!" Joram said, pointing to his arm. Said arm was fading from view. "It seems that I'm waking up. Talk to you later!" Joram said as he faded completely from sight. His last view of Asuza was of her lunging to strangle him.

Switch Scene

So it was that he woke up that night to start on his plan. With the sheets still covering him, he pulled out his watch and looked at the time. It was 12:21 am, or rather what he guessed to be 12:21 am. He really hoped that he wasn't making a mistake with the time. Ah, well. It wasn't terribly important. It was just that be preferred not to make mistakes. Mistakes had a bad habit of coming back to bite you in the rear. He once again used his transformation to look like Mitsune Aoshi and headed over to the corner where the toilet was. He stepped under the camera briefly so that he could use Kage Bunshin no jutsu to make a clone of himself.

When that was done he directed his clone to act as though he were going to the bathroom. His clone gave him a bland look but complied. While said clone was occupied, Joram performed several other hand seals and used another very useful jutsu. It was the same Jutsu he had used the other night when he had learned that Ucchan had been in an accident. Not only could it slow your fall and take you a certain distance, but it also allowed you to pass anywhere air could. Soon he was performing yet another henge, this time on the other side of the bars, to make him look like an officer that he has seen come into the building when he had been taken to his cell. Joram grinned to himself. He really hoped he didn't run into the fellow whose face he was currently borrowing. That always caused problems.

Joram made his way down the hall at a good pace. It was good that he had taken the time earlier to study the movement of the people in the building to kind of give him a general layout of the place. As he went he kept track of those around him using his ability to sense life. There once was a point when he was younger when he had thought it was somewhat useless. He could obviously see that those around him were either alive or dead, why need another sense to tell him so? Then there was that one day when someone had made a flesh golem and used a glamour on it to disguise its nature. The thing had just about gotten to its goal, him, before he noticed that the person approaching him really wasn't alive in the way the people around him were alive. It had seemed fake. Joram shook his head at the memory. He didn't know how he had managed to actually stay alive that time. Though he was sure Katreen would have still deducted major points had he died. Being able to detect life had been a gift from her after all.

Switch Scene

"What do you mean, 'you can't get the swords out of their scabbards'?" Insp. Fuji fumed to the poor, low ranking policeman in front of him. "Haven't they tried just cutting them out?"

"Sir, yes sir. They have tried, but have now ruined three blades in the process, sir!" The poor boy was sweating bullets. Why did this have to happen on his shift? It was only his third one to boot.

"I swear! Those forensics guys are useless sometimes!" Insp. Fuji said as he stormed out of his office in a huff. Part of the reason why he was in such a bad mood was the issue of the fingerprints. He had managed to get permission to use several other countries' databases, but none of them had turned anything up. Hell, he had even gotten to use the States' database, and still nothing. Where had this guy come from?

"On your way, on your way!" Fuji shooed the officer away. "I don't need someone to hold my hand to get there." Said officer took his leave with much gratitude. He hadn't been this scared since high school when he had been picked on by the school bullies. They had been a mean bunch. Now most of them were with the Yakuza. He shuddered.

Switch Scene

"Now, where would they have taken my swords?" Joram asked himself as he made his way down yet another hall. He had tried following the guy with his swords as he went on his way after leaving him in that room with the mirror, but he had lost him at one point…. Stupid sneezing.

So Joram was wandering around in the general area hoping to pick up on the unique resonance his swords gave off. Thus being pre-occupied, Joram walked into someone as he rounded a corner. "I'm so sorry!" Joram apologized and bowed at the same time.

"Just watch where you're going." Insp. Fuji said gruffly as he tried to go around the disguised Joram.

"Ah, Insp. Fuji! Where are you headed?" He asked, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"Forensics. They're having problems with Mitsune's swords." He said as he continued along the hall.

"Ooh. You mind if I join you? I heard those swords are something to look at." Joram asked, trying very hard to sound interested in a hobby.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. Come along then." Insp. Fuji said as he turned another corner and headed down two flights of stairs. Joram was somewhat annoyed. The guy must have gone through half the building to drop off his swords. But he soon found himself following Fuji through another set of doors, these ones glass, and coming up short. There were his swords laying on a table, as new looking as ever. What gave him pause was the sight of two men staring at them as though they wished the things would vanish in some sort of violent manner.

"So, what's going on here?" Fuji asked as he approached the two men. They looked up and noticed the angry looking Fuji and stepped back a pace.

"Well, you see, uh, the-" Mook number one started to say, but was cut off by mook number two.

"The scabbards are made of some unknown metal and are not releasing the swords." Mook number two said sounding infinitely more confident in himself.

"What do you mean, 'unknown metal'? It's probably just an alloy you haven't seen before." Fuji said as he approached the table. There were several saw blades on the table beside a rather large saw. Joram noticed that the round saw blades were missing several dozen teeth each, and the rest looked as though they had been worn down quite a bit.

Fuji reached out and picked up the wakasashi and regarded it for a moment before trying to draw the blade. Nothing happened, which seemed to frustrate Fuji. He pulled harder and harder until it looked as though he might burst a vein in his forehead. Still nothing happened.

"What's with this thing? Did he use some sort of glue to keep them from being drawn?" Fuji said in exasperation as he tossed the sword back onto the table.

"That is one possibility we've considered." Mook number two said as he stroked his stubbly chin with his thumb and index finger. He was a good height, only a couple of inches shorter that Joram when he was himself. He was of average build for a Japanese man, and had hair that must have had something done to it because it was almost white, slightly platinum in colour. It was cut short, making it stick up in several different directions. What made Joram think this was the fact that he didn't look any older than thirty. Mook number one was a shorter man, somewhat chubby with hair that came down past his ears. He was also wearing a pair of glasses that were about an inch thick. Maybe an inch and a quarter….

"So, what do you plan on doing to get around this problem?" Fuji asked, now very tired. He had been up since six that morning and had been going hard since he had gotten the call to go to the bank just after noon.

"We don't know." Mook number two said in a matter of a fact tone of voice. Joram made sure to hold very still where he was standing, trying not to draw any attention to himself as the other three people discussed the issue.

He didn't know what a "laser" was, but it didn't sound good when Mook number two suggested using one to get the swords out of the scabbard. He would have to liberate his swords before anything adverse happened to them. They were a memento from Jirin after all. So he prepared his sleeping jutsu and walked over to Insp. Fuji and mook number one and tapped them both on the back of the neck. Mook number two looked up in surprise as the two people in front of him fell over.

"So these are your swords, eh?" Mook number two said as he backed away slightly, keeping the table between him and Joram.

"You guessed right." Joram said as he leaned forward and retrieved his swords. "Now, I'll have to take care of you." Joram said once he had placed the blades in his shoulder satchel that was hiding under his coat. He then prepared another sleep jutsu.

"I'm no genin to be taken lightly, ninja." Mook number two said with a venomous tone of voice as he jumped back even further and pulled out a kunai.

That gave Joram pause. Just how many shinobi were there running around in this county? It didn't matter though, for he wasn't going to fight this one.

"Whatever." Joram said as he turned and headed for the door. After only having taken one step he suddenly dodged to the left just in time to avoid a kunai in the back. He turned and regarded Mook number two. "Do you really want to fight me that badly, boy?" Joram asked as he shot Mook number two a glare.

"I can't allow you to take those swords; they're evidence." He replied simply, a sheen of sweat now covering his brow.

"Well then young man, live with your decision." Joram said as he did a short series of hand seals. Mook number two must have thought better than to allow him to finish because he pulled out and threw another kunai at Joram. Joram just tilted his head to the side to avoid the kunai and finished his jutsu. "Compression no jutsu, Revised!" Normally this particular jutsu was used to make air so compressed that it was turned to liquid and contained in a solid sphere about the size of a marble. The marble would then be used to blow away large sections of rock, wall, whatever. It was extremely dangerous to be near one that went off. You, most likely, would never be found in entirety. This time he only compressed the air to the point where it started to form a liquid, but didn't encase it. Instead he released the energies holding it in liquid form and let them explosively expand in Mook number two's direction. The result; half of the forensics lab was, quite literally, blown away. Mook number two was lifted off his feet and thrown across the room, as were several tables around him. A few bits of equipment pelted him as he was pressed against the back wall, and was narrowly missed by the worn-out saw blades. Joram grinned to himself. That boy wouldn't soon forget this lesson. Then something caught his attention. Mook number two poofed and turned into a chair. Joram cursed as he got a boot to the head that sent him flying several feet towards the back wall.

"That was impressive Mr. Shinobi, but you took too long to prepare." Mook number two said from behind him, all the while twirling a kunai in his index finger. "Time to die." He said as he launched the blade at Joram. Joram just let it hit as he stood up. Wearing his Dragon Silk Armour allowed him to ignore sharp and pointy objects because it was specifically made to stop piercing and slashing damage. The only drawback was that the impact itself wasn't cancelled out, so it still hurt when he got hit, but it was almost never fatal. Mook number two just stared at him.

"Now I'm really in a pickle. That explosion is going to draw some unwanted attention down here very quickly." Joram said as he took up yet another stance. "I might not be as gentle this time." Joram said as he shot forward and engaged Mook number two in hand to hand combat. Joram was impressed with Mook number two's skill level; he must at least be at chounin level. That didn't matter though, he was better. So Joram tapped several pressure points as he fought with the Mook, and within a few moments Mook has fallen to the ground, unable to move.

"It was nice playing with you, but I must go now." Joram said as he put the Mook to sleep and slipped out of the room. He had to hurry though, for he heard many people running in his direction. He soon was able to get out of the area without being noticed. He once again silently thanked Katreen that he was able to sense life around him. It really helped him to avoid anyone else as he made his way to a side office where he opened the window and jumped to the tree that was growing nearby. Joram let out a sigh of relief as he breathed the fresh night air.

'Now: where to go?' Joram asked himself as he hopped down from the tree and released the disguise. He walked casually down the street wondering where he was. After a while though, he found a district map on a street corner. He supposed that the big red dot was where he currently was, and the big arrow pointing off to the upper left corner must be north. He looked around to get his bearings. It took him some time to do so, mainly because most of the stars were drowned out by the lights of the city. And the fact that the stars had had two hundred thousand years to move around. He sighed and looked around some more. Going by what the map said the building looked like, he determined where north was. Ok. Now, if he went down that street, then turn left after six blocks: then go for another three then turn right he would get to a fair sized park. Looking again at the map he realized that he was still in the Juban district, just a lot further south than he had ever been. Joram just shrugged as he made his way down the street. He would at least be able to get some sleep before the night was out.

Sleep. Sigh. He was really going to need it this time. The ability that Katreen had granted him would take a lot out of him when used. Another thought occurred to him: he was going to need some clothing for Asuza when she awoke from her sleep. That meant going to the "mall" again. Sigh. That place just had too many people in it. Then again, it would be nice to get some more supplies. That thought reminded him of something he had forgotten. He still had to go get a second fitting at the tailor's! Joram sighed. He had meant to do that after going to the bank yesterday.

It didn't take him long to get to the park he had found on the map. It really was a nice park; it even had a small lake. Joram looked around for a secluded spot he could use for a campsite and found one after only ten minutes of searching. There were several tall trees that stood in an oval formation with enough space in between for a tent and maybe a small fire. Just to make it even more in-accessible for anyone else to get to, he performed another jutsu that made the undergrowth grow three feet higher for a good fourteen yard radius around the campsite. Joram took a deep breath. That was not something he did everyday. It was a somewhat tiresome jutsu to use, but it had its uses, especially now that he needed some privacy. He then went about setting up his tent for the night. It was large enough for two people to sleep in comfortably, and even had a small awning at the front to help keep rain from getting in. Once done, he stripped down to his boxers and lay down to sleep.

Morning came all too soon for his liking. The birds were especially noisy, maybe to just spite him. Joram forced himself to get up and stretched out with many pops and cracks to protest the movement. Grumbling to himself, Joram reached into his satchel and pulled out a wash basin and his bottle of ever full water and stepped out into the morning light. He then popped the cork and filled the basin with water. Re-corking it he reached into the satchel again and pulled out a washcloth and a bar of soap. He then proceeded to give himself a quick wash down to freshen up. He then dumped the wash water out and put the washbasin back into his satchel. He really didn't want to be up yet, but he had a lot to do. He went back into his tent and got dressed. He would have to get some food and clothes today. He sure hoped he remembered how large she was, because buying clothes for someone wasn't his forte. Shaking his head Joram left his camp and slid through the underbrush like a wraith.

He soon found the mall Makoto had shown him the other day and made his way in. It took him another two hours of shopping to find some clothes that he guessed would do for Asuza. He then made his way to another store that sold camping supplies and the like. He spent another half an hour going through what they had there, then bought what he needed.

"Food time." Joram thought to himself as he made his way to the food market. By the time he was done, he had one basket balanced on his head and another two in each hand. The cashier lady looked at him in an odd manner. He was getting used to that by now.

Smiling to himself, Joram made his way to a slightly quieter part of the mall and dropped each bag of food into his shoulder satchel. He looked around to make sure that nobody had seen him, but found a little white girl staring at him with huge, sparking, eyes. She was tugging on her mothers' sleeve as she watched Joram finish up with his bags. Her mother just mumbled something to her while looking at a dress. "But mommy! That man has a Mary Poppins bag!" She said all excited. Her mother murmured that that was nice. Joram flashed the girl a quick smile and hurried off. He didn't know what a Mary Poppins bag was, but he hoped it wasn't something that held negative repercussions. He left the mall.

It was only mid morning and Joram had finished all the shopping he needed to do so he went back to the park, picking up a few pizzas along the way. That was definitely a culinary stroke of genius for whoever had come up with the recipe. It tasted great and was fairly filling. He made sure that at least one pizza survived the trip. Asuza might get hungry later.

Once back in the park Joram took his time to enjoy the scenery in full daylight. It was quite something. The nobles of his time would have approved.

After an hour or so he made his way to his camp and slid through the shrubs he had grown the night before. He was glad to see that his camp was undisturbed. He went about preparing a small fire pit by gathering some fist sized stoned from near the lake and digging out a small pit, only being about six inches deep and two feet across. He lined the pit with the stone he had gathered and smiled with the satisfaction of a job well done. He then took out a small folding stool from his satchel and set it up by the fire, putting the remaining pizza on top of it.

"Guess I can't procrastinate any longer, huh?" Joram asked himself as he went inside his tent. He took out the clothing he had purchased for Asuza and placed it beside the second bed roll he had laid out the night before. He then reached in and pulled out a rather large blanket he had purchased from a store that had a mouse dressed as a wizard for its logo. The blanket had a light golden brown bear in a red shirt on it. The bear was holding a pot that was filled with a golden yellow substance. On the other side was what looked like a stuffed tiger doll balancing on his tail. It was cute, that's why he bought it. He hoped Asuza liked it.

Shaking his head again he reprimanded himself for once again stalling. He had to do this. Taking a deep breath he took out the single hair from Asuza and placed it on the unrolled bed roll. He then sat down cross legged beside said bed roll and began to meditate.

He once again traveled the familiar route to his center, his inner being. Once there he looked around and smiled. He always loved coming here; it was so peaceful. It looked something like a lush garden that you would find on a Victorian era estate. There were crushed gravel paths leading throughout the gardens with tall shrubs and bushes that were meticulously trimmed and kept in shape. Some were in the shapes of various animals he had seen throughout his life, while others were just squared off to be walls that separated each section of the garden.

Joram walked down the center path that led to a wonderful fountain. He had only seen a nymph once in his life, and that had been enough. This marble statue resembled that nymph, well, as much as stone can be made to duplicate life. She was holding a vase at its base and at its mouth, pouring the liquid over herself as her head was tilted up and back. The liquid flowed down her form and into the basin below the short pedestal she was standing on. The basin wasn't large, only about eight feet across, but had a high enough rim for people to use as a bench. The liquid was another story altogether.

It might have looked like water on a moonless night, but during the day, or whenever there was any amount of ambient light, the liquid shone with an iridescence that dazzled the eye. One could stare at it for hours and hours on end without tiring; it was that wonderful to behold. It was there that Joram sat and gathered his thoughts. With a light shake of the head Joram took a small chalice from his shoulder satchel and dipped it into the liquid light. Joram smiled at the familiar tingle as the liquid touched his fingers. Joram took a sip and felt immensely energized.

With that extra energy flowing through him he was now able to send a mental call to where Asuza waited. It wasn't long before she began to appear before him. Joram just waited as she first appeared, then looked around in wonder. She was still dressed in her cut off shorts and tank top. It took a few minutes for her to finally get around to looking at him. She was smiling. That made him glad.

"Where is this place?" Asuza asked, the wonder in her voice quite evident.

"Just a garden I call home." Joram said as he handed her the chalice. "Here, drink this."

"What is it?" She asked as she looked into the cup. It was swirling in a most unusual way.

"That is what will allow you to come back." Joram said with a small smile on his face. "You should hurry though, there isn't much time left."

Asuza looked down at the cup and stared for a while before she nodded to herself and chugged the whole thing back. Joram stared. He hadn't meant for her to drink the whole thing, just to take a long drink. He idly wondered what that would do to her, having drunk the whole cup and all….?

"That… tingles." She said with a grin on her face. Just tingles, huh? "So, what do we do now?" She asked as she started to fade away. That, too, was odd. They had never faded away that fast before.

"You wake up." He managed to get in just before she vanished from sight.

Joram opened his eyes and beheld Asuza in all her glory. He got a nosebleed.

While Joram was thus preoccupied, Asuza opened her eyes and looked around. She couldn't quite make sense of her surroundings. Then it came to her. She was in a tent. Why was she in a tent? She was interrupted in her thoughts by Joram placing a blanket over her, and for the first time she realized that she was completely naked.

"Eep!" She eeped in a rather girlish manner. Which suited her because she was indeed a girl.

"Sorry. I forgot to mention that that would happen." Joram said as he studiously studied the tent flap over to his right.

Asuza couldn't believe it. She was alive! She was so happy that she jumped up and gave Joram a huge hug. Well, huge for her; she seemed quite little as she hugged Joram. He was, after all, twice as wide as she.

Joram tried very hard to ignore the exuberant young lady attached to his torso and reached over to one of the bags of clothing. "I thought that, uh, you might like to get, ah, dressed." Joram managed to say. Asuza again realized that she was naked under the, albeit a very cute, blanket and jumped away, pulling the blanket up to her chin. "I'll, ah, be outside." Joram said as he made his way to the tent flap.

"Thank you." She said quietly as the tent flap closed behind him. From that quick glimpse out of the tent she managed to see several trees. With gratitude being put on the back burner, and curiosity coming to the fore, she just couldn't help but wonder where they were. So she crawled forward and pushed the tent flap aside just enough to get a good view of her surroundings. It looked as though they were in a very small clearing in a forest somewhere. Where? She couldn't say. She saw Joram sitting on the ground with his back to her in front of a small fire pit that he must have dug out. Other than that, there was nothing to see besides more trees so she went back inside the tent and started to go through the clothing Joram had left for her. She noticed many different tank tops and other t-shirts. She just shook her head. In another bag she noticed several pairs of sweat pants and cargo pants. All looked to be about her size, so that was a start. Soon enough she was dressed in a tank top and cargos along with some flip-flops for footwear. With a shrug, mainly because Joram hadn't thought to buy her any underwear, she got up and stepped outside.

Joram was sitting by the fire pit talking with someone. Both looked over at her as she entered the scene, though Joram was the only one to smile. The other guy just blushed furiously and looked at his feet. He had an unruly shock of brown hair that was being held back by a yellow bandana with black marks all over it. He was also wearing a golden yellow shirt and black kung fu like pants that were tied from calves to ankles with some thin white rope. On his feet, slippers. Odd. What really struck her as odd though, was the massive back pack he was sporting. The thing must have been two thirds his size. Well, she thought, he must like hiking or something. He even has an umbrella for rain.

"Um, ah…. Sorry for bothering you all, but could you tell me where Furinkan High School is?" He asked while trying very hard not to look at her. She was somewhat amused by his bashful nature, but also annoyed that he wouldn't just look her in the eye.

"Furinkan High School?" Joram asked distractedly. He seemed to be looking at the underbrush around the camp.

"Furinkan High? I've heard of it; but isn't it in Nerima?" Asuza asked the boy who must have gotten quite lost to have arrived in a forrest on his way to school.

"Where am I now?" He asked himself distractedly as he pulled out a map from somewhere and began to murmur to himself about how he should have taken a left turn at that desert a while back. Asuza face faulted.

"What are you looking at?" Asuza asked as she came over and pulled a portion of map down so she could see better. "Mali? Where in the world did you get this!" She asked the boy who was now backing away from her nervously. "You'll never get where you need to go in Japan with this!"

"Ah, ha-ha. Seems like I pulled out the wrong map. Sorry for bothering you." The boy stammered as he made his way out of camp, backing away from Asuza the whole time. The last she saw of him he was going around the back of the tent, still trying not to look at Asuza as he backed away from her.

"You know something?" Joram asked her as she stood there watching him look around at the underbrush. "I can't see where he came in."

"So?" She asked, not seeing his point.

"He was standing exactly where you saw him, when you came out of the tent, as when I saw him." Joram said. "I didn't even hear him until he cleared his throat." Joram said shaking his head. "Where did he come from?" Joram asked himself as he stood up and walked around the small camp studying the underbrush as he went. "Could you come here for a moment?" Joram asked from the other side of the tent. Asuza shrugged and went over.

"You see these tracks here?" Joram more said than asked as he pointed to the ground.

"Yeah, sure." Asuza said. She saw nothing of the sort, but didn't see any reason to prolong this.

"Those tracks lead to the edge of the camp here," Joram said pointing to the ground again. "And they suddenly disappear without a trace." Joram said, more to himself than to her.

"So, what does that mean?"

"This guy is good." Joram said.

Switch Scene

"Inattention!" Genma yelled as he kicked Ranma in the head and sent him flying into the koi pond. Ranma sat up in the pond and glared at her/his dad.

"We weren't even practicing old man!" The now she yelled and shook her fist at the gloating man standing near the deck.

"Life is practice boy! Never let your guard down." He said sagely, nodding his head to himself. This completely went against what he just said, so Ranma took advantage of the situation and used her superior speed to launch a surprise attack at the old fool. She would have had him if not for the fact that the old man took notice of something on the ground and bent over to pick it up. Which meant that Ranma's descending kick missed its target and she wound up going into a roll to avoid decimating the deck. When she came out of the roll she was in prime position to start dinner, being at her place at the table that is.

"Here you go Ranma." Kasumi said as she handed Ranma-chan a dry towel and a kettle of hot water. Ranma blinked, but said thanks as he took the proffered items. Kasumi was getting really good at being there with hot water and a towel a moment after he changed. She might even be getting a sixth sense about the whole thing…. Nah.

"So Ranma; why have you been so distracted these past couple of days?" Mr. Tendo asked as he read his newspaper.

"It's nothin'." Ranma said off handedly as he dried out his hair and patted down his clothing with the towel.

"Nothing enough to have dropped your wallet when I attacked you boy?" Genma said as he dangled Ranma's wallet from where he was outside. Ranma looked over and shrugged.

"That's just the one I use to bait you with old man." Ranma said in an off handed manner as Nabiki entered the room.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said as she took a seat at the table beside her father and began to look through some papers from a folder she brought in with her. "So Ranma-kun, what has been bothering you? Could it be that fight the other night?" Nabiki asked with an innocent expression on her face.

"How did you know!" Ranma asked, completely flabbergasted. How _did_ she know?

"I have my sources." She replied as cryptically as usual when someone asked how she knew something. "So Ranma, the fight?" Nabiki prodded not so subtly.

Ranma was about ready to bite something. "Nothin' happened with the fight, okay!" Ranma snapped, going all pouty. Akane looked at him as though he had grown a second head or something. The only time he got touchy about a fight was when he had lost.

"Did you lose or something?" Akane asked, not quite sure is she should have asked. Though it was really getting annoying during practice when he wasn't even paying attention to her as he just dodged everything she had to send his way. He was usually polite enough to at least pay attention to what she was doing, and even comment on it when he saw room for improvement in her technique.

"No!" Ranma barked, then took a deep, slow, breath to calm himself. "I was fighting this idiot behind the Nekohanten, more like sparing after a while. He was good, but I'm better." He smirked, then got serious. "Well, we were fighting when suddenly I feel this huge build up of power overhead. Before I knew what was happening, the guy threw me, mid-air, just as the attack was let lose." He shuddered at that point. "It was a sphere black as night with pink lightning arcing through it. It almost had a sound, something on the edge of hearing, but not quite. It hit the guy; Joram was his name, full on and smashed him to the ground. There was this crater about ten feet across that he lay in as water filled it." Ranma took another deep breath to once again calm himself. "He lay there broken and bleeding. I wanted to help him, but the old ghoul knocked me out. When I awoke, he was standing on the far edge of the crater looking up at the sky."

"He must not have been that hurt by it to have been up and about so soon after." Soun commented. He had put his newspaper down to listen to the story, but he still fidgeted with a corner of the paper.

"I'm tellin' ya; he was dead." Ranma said with such conviction in his voice that those listening couldn't help but want to believe him. Soun looked as though he would cry. "You can ask the old ghoul, Shampoo or the four other girls who were watching. He was dead. Then he was standing there as though nothing had happened."

"Joram you say, hmm?" Nabiki mused to herself. "Say Ranma? Why were there four other girls watching the fight?" Nabiki asked as innocently as she could.

"They weren't there to watch me if that was what you were thinking." Ranma replied coldly as he regarded his fiancé's elder sister. "They had been in the restaurant with that Joram guy before the fight. I guess they just so happened to find us. But that is what has been distracting me. Happy now?" He asked as Kasumi brought out dinner for them all. Genma was there instantly, sitting by his son and holding his bowl as though it were the most precious thing in the world, waiting for Kasumi to serve up the food. Akane took her seat on the other side of Ranma looking contemplative. For some reason or another Kasumi had set an extra plate at the table. Before Ranma could comment though, he heard the reason for the extra place speak up.

"So Ranma m'boy, you annoyed because someone saved your life, or are you afraid of someone who can come back from the dead?" Happosai asked/stated as he bounced to his spot at the table.

As soon as Ranma crawled back into his skin, having been somewhat startled by the appearance of the old letch, he had to wonder: how had Kasumi known the old letch would be stopping by for dinner? For once Ranma just concentrated on his food and didn't rise to the bait. It was really hard to do though, for Happosai kept on throwing jibes his way throughout the meal. After having successfully fended off his father from taking his pickles yet again, and having finally finished eating, Ranma excused himself from the table and went to the dojo for some alone time.

It wasn't very often that he went off for the sole reason to think things through. But contrary to popular belief, he wasn't all reflex and muscle. He was really quite smart but didn't want to let his old man in on the secret. Leave it to his old man to try and find a way to exploit anything and everything he could. Ranma just didn't want it to be him yet again. He had enough problems to deal with right now.

He also really wanted to figure out what had gone on that night two days ago. It seemed that Joram had been able to sense the build up of power half a second before he had. He was very thankful he had, for as much as he hated to admit it, he owed this Joram character his life.

Ranma also cursed himself for having run off with Shampoo in search of whoever had attacked them. He should have just stayed put and questioned Joram to see if he knew who was after him. He should have done many things differently, but he hadn't. Taking a deep breath he sat down and began to meditate. There was no use beating oneself up over "should haves" and "could haves". Instead he concentrated on finding the solution, not more symptoms of the problem. What he needed to do was go back to the Nekohanten and question the old ghoul some more. She had been more reluctant than a stone to tell him anything more about Joram that night. Who knows? Maybe she might have softened up after a couple of days?

Ranma just about laughed out loud, almost losing his center in the process. Like that old Amazon would soften up after only a couple of days. He would have to find another way to track down Joram so he could question him about what had happened.

Ranma was interrupted in his meditations by the door opening and closing behind him. He smiled to himself. He could recognize Akane's stride anywhere.

"Is that what was really bothering you?" She asked as she sat down in front of him. She had somehow managed to change into her karate gi before coming into the dojo. She looked good in that gi of hers. That was almost exactly what she had looked like the day they had become friends. So very long ago it seemed to him. So much had happened since that day. Three new fiancés, a couple hands full more rivals, and many, many fights had all come to be a regular thing in his life. He almost couldn't remember a time when he hadn't been fighting.

He had been six when his father had taken him from his mother. His mother. Ranma smiled to himself as he thought about her. He hadn't wanted to kill him after all. His father was another issue entirely, but he, himself, was safe from her wrath.

"It's not everyday a stranger saves your life you know." Ranma said as he came back to the present. He was used to being the one who did the saving.

"But you also said he came back to life." Akane prompted from where she sat. Ranma was sure glad that she had cooled down somewhat over the time he had known her, especially after the incident with Safron. He really hadn't enjoyed being smashed with that damnable mallet of hers every other day, sometime twice in a day.

"Yeah, that's the other thing that's bothering me. I saw the guy in a smoking crater, he, himself, a twisted, bleeding, smoking form in that crater. When I woke up, he was looking just like he had before being hit by that energy blast." Ranma shook his head. "I just can't figure it out. How had he done it? Why is he still alive? I'm not saying I'd prefer him dead or nothin'. I just can't figure it out is all, and it's driving me nuts." Ranma said as he motioned with his hands to better express his points. It almost felt as though he should be pacing in front of Akane as he spoke. He just wound up shaking his head instead. None of it made any sense and he was tired of things not making any sense for him.

"Sounds like you'll just have to go out and find the guy and ask him yourself." Akane said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. It was a simple solution with one flaw.

"Akane. There are millions of people living in and around Tokyo. How am I supposed to find him?" Ranma asked, falling back into his sarcastic self. Akane's eyebrow twitched.

"How am I supposed to know? You're the one who's had all the contact with them." Akane said as she got up stretched. He was very glad that she hadn't reached for her mallet that she kept in sub-space. That thing could really hurt. "Now, did you come to the dojo to sit around and sulk, or did you come to practice?" Akane asked in a condescending tone of voice. That got is back up. That tone of voice almost always did.

"You're on." Ranma said as he flowed to his feet from is sitting position. It almost appeared as though someone had pulled a string that was attached to the crown of his head, it was that fluid a motion.

"So, you gonna hit back this time?" Akane asked as she took up her usual stance.

"Why would I want to hit a tomboy like you?" Ranma asked and had to dodge left to avoid an opening kick from Akane. "Nice kick, but you left yourself way open." Ranma said as he tapped her sternum just below where the collar bones come together. Akane was so shocked she stopped dead for a second, then shook herself and continued her barrage.

"That's the first time you've actually touched me in these practice sessions." Akane said as she did a back handed fist and two kick combo that Ranma side stepped, hopped, and ducked under. He then poked the back of her knee as she pivoted from that last kick, and she fell over.

"I figure that now would be a good time to start, you know, training you better." Ranma said as he got up and stepped away from the fuming Akane. For a moment she looked as though she might pull out her mallet and wallop him a good one, but then she smiled.

"That's nice to hear." She said as she got up from the floor. "But it won't do me any good if you only poke at me. You need to hit me too." She said as she took up another stance.

Ranma made a face. "I can't hit you; you're a girl." Ranma said as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world.

"And so Shampoo got as strong as she is by just getting tapped by Cologne?" Akane asked in a tone of voice dripping with sarcasm.

"That's not it and you know it. I just can't hit a girl. Its just... not right." He finished feebly with a look of frustration on his face. "But it is true that you will need to learn how to defend yourself from any other crazy people that might want to challenge me by kidnapping you, hold you hostage, or whatever." He then took up another stance and motioned her forward. "Come."

And so she did, again and again until she was having trouble standing up on her own. It hurt Ranma to do this, hurt like nothing else save for when he had thought he had been too late in saving her from that pool in China. He had almost died that day as well when he had thought her dead. Of course he would never admit it to anyone.

So out of love and respect for Akane, he continued to hit her. Not very hard, but he did. It almost felt like a knife was jabbed into his heart every time he hit her. After only about twenty minutes though Akane was unable to stand up. He had just delivered an open palm strike to her sternum, with just enough force to knock her over, but it seemed that it was enough to keep her down this time.

"I'm so sorry Akane." Ranma said as he approached her and knelt down in front of where she slouched on the floor.

"Ranma, if you apologize for giving me the best sparring session I've had in years; I'll kick you." Akane said as she sat there and panted. He couldn't help but notice how cute she looked. He knew he was being weird, but he couldn't help it. Her blue-black hair was clinging to her face where it made contact with the sweat that was beaded on her brow, and she had a genuinely contented grin on her face. She looked quite beautiful actually.

"What are you grinning at?" Akane asked, starting to get annoyed with the funny grin on Ranma's face as he stared at her.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Nothing." Ranma stammered as he got back to his feet. He was saved from further embarrassment by bell. Literally. The bell at the front gates of the property rang again. Ranma gave Akane a puzzled look and headed for the front. The last time someone had rung that bell they had been out to challenge the dojo, and he really didn't want to miss anything.

As fast as Ranma and Akane were they still got there after Kasumi. It was somewhat chilly outside that night, considering it was getting to be well into spring time. Ranma didn't notice it though, fully expecting a fight. Kasumi just wore a long scarf to keep herself warm in the evening chill. She looked over at Ranma and Akane as they approached and smiled.

"Don't worry, I've got it." She said then pulled the gate open. Ranma watched as she looked out, then up. "May I help you?" She asked politely with her usual smile.

"Yes you may. I'm looking for one Tendo Nabiki. Is she in?" Ranma couldn't quite place the voice for a second, but got it once Kasumi motioned the person in. It was that Joram guy.

"What are you doing here!" Ranma burst out in surprise.

"Oh, hello Saotome Ranma. It's good to see you again." Joram said as he made a slight bow. Then a second person came through the door. This woman looked to be around twenty or so years old, and was wearing some cargo pants, sandals, what looked like a tank top, and a bomber jacket. She was quite pretty, her black hair would have come down to her shoulders, but it was up in one of those clips with many teeth at the back of her head. Joram was dressed pretty much the same way as Ranma remembered seeing him dressed that first night they had met. He even had on that stupid crown like thing.

"_What_ are you doing here!" Ranma asked again, trying very hard not to look in every direction at once.

"Oh, Miss Tendo and I have a business arrangement that we need to discuss." Joram said frankly. He then motioned to his friend. "This is my friend A-" Joram was cut off by the girl.

"My name is Sakura. Pleased to meet you." She said with a slight bow. Joram just looked at her and shrugged.

"I'm sure we can get everyone introduced to each other inside." Kasumi said with her usual smile while motioning them all to follow her into the house. Akane paired off with Sakura while Ranma lagged behind with Joram.

"Would you mind telling me what happened the other night?" Ranma asked in a low voice in hopes that the others wouldn't overhear them.

"I'm still trying to figure that out you see." Joram whispered back. "I still have no idea who it was that attacked me."

"Not that." Ranma said in frustration. "I saw you laying at the bottom of that crater, broken and bleeding. How is it that you survived after that water filled the whole in?"

"Now that's a good question, but it will have to wait to be answered." Joram said as he pointed forward. They had arrived at the house. Ranma could see Nabiki coming downstairs with a curious expression on her face.

"Joram, what brings you here?" She asked as she arrived at the front door. Kasumi went off to prepare some tea and cookies, leaving them all to migrate to the living room.

"I am in need of a second set of papers." Joram explained while motioning to Asuza, now known as Sakura.

"That will cost extra you know." She replied in the usual crisp tone she used for business.

"You're doing business with him?" Ranma asked, completely not getting this.

"Yes. We earlier this week at Ucchan's and stuck a deal. Is there something wrong with that?" She asked Ranma in that cold tone of hers.

Ranma couldn't think of anything to say and just wound up shaking his head.

"Good. If you'll follow me Joram, we can discuss the matter in a more private setting." Nabiki said and motioned for him to follow. Sakura looked as though she might stay behind but Joram motioned for her, too, to follow.

Ranma stood there completely stunned. He didn't know what to say. The object of his preoccupation just walked into his, well the Tendo's, home and went to speak with Nabiki as though they were old friends.

"RANMA!" Akane yelled into his ear. That snapped him out of his reverie.

"What!" Ranma asked/complained as he held his aching ear.

"I'm guessing that was the same Joram?" Akane half asked half stated. She then looked down the hall again to where they had gone through the back door leading to the dojo.

"Yeah that's him all right." Ranma said as he too stared down the hallway as though he could see through plaster and wood to regard the subject of his troubles.

"You're right Ranma." Happosai said from his side. "That one could definitely pose problems." He said as he puffed away at his long necked pipe. Both Genma and Soun nodded sagely from behind their master.

"What d'ya mean old man?" Ranma asked irritably.

"I mean that that boy's aura is older and more orderly than either mine or Cologne's combined."

"How can that be master?" Again both Genma and Soun reacted at the same time to ask the same question in tandem.

"Yeah, we're the same age. How can he be older than you and the old ghoul combined? Heck, I could have even beaten the guy to a pulp had I wanted to. He's no better than Ryoga, and not nearly as strong." Ranma asked in confusion. Akane now turned to pay attention to the conversation.

"I don't know how he managed to do it, but he is as old as I said. As for him not being as good as you, well I don't know that. I'd have to see the both of you fight." Happosai said as he made his way back into the living room and sat on his favourite cushion. "But he is very skilled at using his ki. I'd say he is better at using it than any master I've ever met. But I wouldn't worry too much about it for now. He does seem like he's harmless enough." Happosai said and took another puff. As he blew out the smoke in the shape of a bear on a ball he began to look contemplative. "Unless he can manipulate his aura to the point where he can make it look the way he wants…." Happosai said under his breath and took another long pull from his pipe. That, and the fact that the boy was carrying with him several potent magical items that he would classify as almost being artefacts.

Genma and Soun exchanged worried looks. Genma because he had seen the way the stranger looked and walked as though he were as light as a feather. Soun: because this stranger was alone with his middle daughter. Both sat down and began to think very hard. The one looking as though he might be slightly constipated. The other as though he was going to cry.

Ranma and Akane exchanged looks as well.

"Oh my. Where have our guests gone to?" Kasumi asked as she entered the living room carrying a tray laden with tea and cookies.

"They had some business to do with Nabiki." Ranma replied absently as he continued to think through the possibilities. He found that he was looking forward to the time when he could again spar with Joram. Even though he had stated his confidence in his ability to beat down Joram in a fight, he was sure that Joram had also been holding back somewhat. That's why he thought Joram was on the same level as Ryoga, skill wise that is. He didn't think there were many people out there who could compete with Ryoga on the strength scale.

"Well, I hope they are done before the tea cools down too much." Kasumi said as she placed the tray on the table. "I wonder what kind of business they are discussing?" She said with a cute frown on her face as she thought out loud.

"Probably scamming them." Ranma them murmured to himself and got a swat to the back of the head for it.

"That's not nice to say Ranma." Akane said peevishly, then under her breath. "Even though it's probably true."

The back door slid open at that point and Ranma could hear Nabiki's voice drifting to them.

"… so next Friday we'll meet here after school and go from there." Nabiki finished as they go to the living room. She then turned to her father. "We'll be having some guests for the next several weeks while they find their own place to stay."

"What are you saying Nabiki? We don't even know them. I won't allow it." Soun said from where he sat, looking slightly panicked.

"Father, he has already given me enough money for one month's rent, as well as a damage deposit just in case. That's much better than some "guests" we have. Who, I might add, have never chipped in one yen to help out." She gave each of the "guests" a scathing look. Ranma had enough good grace to look somewhat abashed, but Genma looked around to see who she was talking about, and Happosai didn't even seem to hear her. "Though seeing as how we don't have any more rooms in the house itself, they have agreed to use a sectioned off portion of the dojo as a room."

"Just so long as they aren't in the way." Ranma said under his breath, looking sulky as Mr. Tendo began to water the table with his tears, sobbing that his daughter was angry with him.

Switch Scene

"What's he need half the dojo for!" Ranma exclaimed as he watched Nabiki section off the dojo.

"It is only a third, if that." She said absently as she pulled another divider into place. "Besides, you don't need even half the room in here anyway." She finished up and turned around to regard Ranma. "Besides, it is only for a few weeks. You've survived worse." She says with a sardonic smile and leaves the dojo. Ranma turns to Akane to maybe get some sort of support, or something. What he got was a laugh.

"Oh, Ranma. It's not going to be that bad. Don't worry about it." She too then turned and left the dojo. Ranma heaved a sigh of resignation and sat down to think. It wasn't long before Joram entered with his friend Sakura. Although she was a somewhat pretty lady Ranma could tell that she knew nothing of the Art. Joram though, well, he still moved with the practiced ease of a master.

"Say Ranma, would you be willing to teach Sakura here the basics of fighting?" Joram asked as they approached.

"Well, um… I can't." Ranma said finally while shaking his head. "I'm not the master of my school, nor do I have permission to teach. Sorry." He finished while getting up from where he had been sitting.

"Oh, ok. I was just wondering you see. I would like Sakura here to learn how to fight, but I have some other things that need taking care of." Joram said casually as he looked around.

"You did say that you would teach me yourself you know." Sakura said in that all too pleasant voice that women use when angry. Both Joram and Ranma backed away a bit.

"I will, I will. I've just gotta take care of a few things is all. I figured if Ranma, being as good as he is, is able to teach you while I'm gone, you'll get a head start with out having to wait for me." Joram explained with a grin and his left hand scratching the back of his head.

"Sure, if you want. But I want a re match of our last fight if I'm gonna' be doin' this." Ranma said with a grin. Then went white when he heard Nabiki speak from the entrance of the dojo.

"Ranko-chan! Auntie Saotome is here and she wants to say hi." For all the world she looked as though she were enjoying watching Ranma squirm.

"Water, I need cold water!" Ranma said, almost panicking as he ran around the dojo looking in vain for water of any kind. Joram reached into his shoulder satchel and pulled out the ever full bottle of water that Jirin had given him all those years back. He regarded it for a moment longer before holding it out for Ranma.

"Thanks! I owe you one." Ranma said as he snatched it from Joram's hand, unstoppered the bottle and held it upside down over his head with his eyes closed. After a moment of nothing happening, Ranma turned back to Joram with a confused look on his face. "Why isn't the water coming out?"

"Oh, the command word is "KA-SPLOOSH!" Joram explained with a straight face.

"Five meters and still coming." Nabiki said from the door in a casual tone of voice that went in direct conflict with the expression on her face. From what was on her face, she should have been rolling on the ground laughing.

Ranma's eyes bugged out slightly. He shook himself as though waking up from an unpleasant dream and once again held the bottle upside down over his head. "KA-SPLOOSH!" Ranma yelled then was suddenly knocked off his feet by the sheer water pressure coming from the bottle. As Ranma fell over, now in "she" form she lost hold of the bottle as she was knocked over. Once it left her hand though the flow of water ceased immediately. Joram walked over the few feet to where the bottle had landed and picked it up along with the discarded stopper. As he was thus bent over he heard from near the door the sound of a vaguely familiar voice.

"Hello Ranko-chan. Why are you dripping wet?" Nodoka asked as she stepped into the dojo.

"Dirty trick." Ranma-chan muttered under her breath while shooting Joram a scowl. Then paused as she saw the shocked look on the half-crouching guy in front of her. She thought she heard him mumble something that sounded like "Monica" but wasn't too sure. Ranma-chan looked over at her mother and she too was regarding Joram in an odd manner.

"You look familiar young man. Have we met?" Nodoka asked as she came further into the dojo to regard the newcomer.

Joram stared for a few moments longer before snapping out of it with a shake of his head. "No, no I don't think so ma'am." Joram said as he re-stoppered the bottle and stood up. Ranma realized then, for the first time, that Joram towered over her. When she was a guy it wasn't so bad…. Well, no. Joram looked to be even taller than Kuno. And right then he looked about as uncomfortable as Ryoga did when he was around Akane. Something occurred to him then that he didn't like.

"Yeah, that's my "Auntie" Saotome." Ranma said with some emphasis on the word auntie. "She's Ranma's mom."

"Sure." Was all Joram said as he started to edge his way out of the dojo. Sakura watched as Joram made his way to the door with a funny look on her face. Ranma just couldn't place what emotion it was though.

"What is your name?" Nodoka asked as she stepped closer to Joram.

"Joram Stormborn." Joram replied as he continued to edge to the door.

Nodoka's eyes widened suddenly as she, with fluid ease, unwrapped the long slender object that she carried, and drew the sword that was hidden therein. She then swung to cut him from shoulder to hip. Joram, without even thinking what he was doing was moving into the swing, raising his left arm to deflect the attack, for he was wearing his bracers that day. His right hand shot out and snatched the sword out from her hands as he pivoted to the left so that his right side was to her. He then continued the motion and elbowed her right in the middle of the chest, blasting the wind out of her in the process with a loud cracking sound. From the point where Nodoka drew forth her sword to the point where she lay on the ground only took about two seconds. And by the time Nodoka landed on her back Ranma finally broke out of the daze of disbelief she was in and ran to her mother's side to see if she was alright. Joram was just standing there with a look of utmost shock on his face as he held Nodoka's sword absently in his right hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Ranma-chan yelled at him from where she knelt beside her unconscious mother. Her breathing sounded forced as she lay there.

"I cracked her sternum." Joram said half to Ranma, half to himself. He then strode to where Nodoka lay, but what blocked by Ranma-chan when he got too close.

"I ain't gonna' let to touch her again." She said as she took up a fighting stance. Nabiki, off to the side, stood and watched it all. Partially she wanted to get some dirt so she could make some money off this situation, but mostly she just stood there in shock. That was the first time she had really seen Auntie actually try and kill someone. She was no expert in kendo, but to her that really looked as though Auntie had actually been trying to kill Joram. Then the calm and cool way Joram had taken Auntie out was just astonishing. Even though Joram was a good seven inches taller than boy type Ranma, he had moved in much the same fluid and easy way as Ranma did when he fought.

Joram looked at the katana in his right hand and sighed. He tilted the katana so that he was able to take the blade in his left hand. He then extended his arm to Ranma and proffered her the sword hilt first. "Then stop me," He said as he pushed the hilt at her. "And let your mother's condition continue to deteriorate." Ranma took her mother's sword with a confused look on her face.

"Watcha' gonna' do?" Ranma-chan asked warily as she fidgeted nervously with the sword.

"I'm going to heal her. Now back away, I don't want to be stuck with that sword while I'm working." Joram said as he knelt down beside Nodoka and ignored the mixed look of anger and concern that passed across Ranma-chan's face. He then performed the all-too-familiar jutsu that would heal someone's broken body, knit together things that should never have come apart; like the two halves of Nodoka's sternum. Soon enough Nodoka's chest smoothed out and her breathing became deeper and more regular. The blue glow that always accompanied the healing faded and Joram sat back on his heals to wait, though he was soon interrupted.

"Will she be all right?" Nabiki asked from the door, not able to stay quiet any longer. Asuza, or rather Sakura, was now standing beside Nabiki taking it all in and wondering who Joram really was.

"Will who be all right sister?" Akane asked as she came into the dojo followed by her father and Mr Saotome. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Nodoka laying on the ground and Joram squatting down beside her. Mr Tendo bumped into his daughter before his water logged brain could register that his daughter had stopped moving. Mr Saotome just side stepped them both and stopped dead when he too saw his wife laying on the floor unconscious. A look of utter indecision crossed his face and it looked as though he might actually be torn in half physically by the obvious mental struggle that he was going through. Then his face calmed, the indecision replaced by a look so blank that he hardly seemed to be alive.

"What happened to my wife?" His tone matched his expression to a tee. Ranma-chan backed away slightly, afraid of his old man for the first time in a very long time. He couldn't readily remember the last time his father had appeared so calm, and that too was frightening. Then there was the fact that his father's aura was now in the visible light spectrum, glowing an orange-ish red colour. Ranma-chan looked over at Joram and was surprised to see a look of resignation on his face. He could have sworn that he heard Joram mutter something about points before he replied.

"I hit her." Joram said simply from where he stood. Now Genma's aura flared from what you could call the light of a candle to that of a roaring bond fire, his eyes now glowing somewhat. Ranma-chan noticed the stance that his father had now taken and sucked in a breath. He had never seen his father use that stance before and he doubted that he wanted to see what it could do with his mother laying beside Joram. Several options rolled through his head as time seemed to slow to a standstill. He could just run in and save his mother and leave Joram to his fate. That option was very tempting since Joram had indeed hit his mother, but not honourable. The honourable thing to do would be to try and stop the fight somehow. But how?

That last question seemed to be his last one in that moment of stillness for his father shot forward like a rocket, trailing the same red flames one would see in a cartoon of a rocket. And just like those cartoons of that bird and coyote, the rocket hit with explosive force that knocked a ten foot hole out in the sidewall of the dojo, sending Joram sailing through the air just to come to an abrupt halt by the grounds wall where he slid down into a sitting position, head slumped onto his chest.

Ranma-chan stood there stunned. Never before had he seen his old man do such a thing. Where had he been hiding that technique? Then he remembered his mother. Without so much as a glance at his old man, who just so happened to be standing a few feet from his mother, Ranma-chan knelt down beside her, discarding the sword in the process, to check to see if she was alright. Ranma-chan breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that his mother was only covered with bits of plaster and was otherwise unharmed by the attack. Then movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. His father had picked up his mother's sword and was now charging at Joram at insane speeds, still shining brightly with his orange-red aura. Ranma-chan didn't know what to do; his father must have completely lost it. What could have caused this to happen?

Again Ranma-chan was taken out of her/his reverie by more sudden movements. The old man was now swinging the Saotome family sword in an arc that would cut Joram in half from left shoulder to right hip. Ranma-chan started to cry out at the same time as a couple of the others who had gathered, he couldn't tell who nor did he care. Then the blow landed and he closed his eyes, not wanting to behold the grisly act of murder his father was about to commit. What Ranma-chan expected to hear was some sort of horrible cutting sound and maybe a death cry, but didn't. A moment later Ranma-chan opened her/his eyes to see what had mad that clanging sound.

There was Ukyo standing between Genma and Joram, battle spatula holding back the katana that had managed to cut halfway through it. Ukyou herself now sweating with the effort of holding back the much larger man in front of her. Genma then took a quick side step and knocked her out of the way with a left-handed back hand. Ukyou went flying with a loud scream of pain. At this Ranma burst into action with just enough speed to catch Ukyou before she hit the wall and could be injured further. Ukyou had lost her hold on her battle spatula though, and was looking stricken at the sight of Genma tearing it off the sword and tossing it aside like so much scrap metal. All parties stood stock still at what they saw.

Joram was now standing up his full height and looking like death's messenger. Genma seemed to be undaunted though for he took another swing of the sword at Joram, this time trying to bisect him starting at the crown of his head. Joram clapped his hands together above his head with a mighty bang, catching the katana there in the process. He then went on to jerk it out of Genma's hands and to throw it point first into one of the large stones by the koi pond to stick there quivering slightly.

Again Genma seemed to be undaunted by this turn of events and proceeds to open with a flurry of punches and kicks that Joram either blocks or just shrugs off.

"I would have been fine with you striking me," Joram began to say as Genma backed off for a second but was interrupted by another series of attacks that embedded Joram into the outer wall. "But you just had to go and hit a lady." Joram finished as he too began to glow, his aura showing a very deep blue with an occasional swirl of crimson throughout. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Then suddenly there were dozens of Jorams scattered throughout the Tendo's yard, each of which was also glowing that ominous swirl of blue and red. Each of the Jorams took up a slightly different combat pose and focussed solely on Genma.

"This is getting insane." Ranma-chan muttered to herself as she watched the madness continue. Ukyou began to finger some of the throwing spatulas on her bandolier, but Ranma-chan put her hand on Ukyou's to make sure she didn't interfere. However much he hated to sit there and watch, his old man had picked the fight and had to finish it one way or another.

Then all Jorams ran at Genma at the same time to attack. Genma managed to hit a couple of the clones before leaping straight up into the air to get away from the clouds of smoke each on puffed away into once hit. From somewhere in that cloud of smoke could be heard Joram yelling: "Dragon Combo!" From the middle of the cloud came Joram flying feet first at a Genma who was still waving the smoke from his face. Joram contacted Genma squarely in the chest and knocked him even further up into the air to get intercepted by another Joram who seemed to appear out of nowhere to strike him in the back with an axe kick, just to be knocked upwards again by another Joram who delivered a perfect flying upper cut to Genma's jaw. The Joram still above Genma then circled his arms about Genma's waist from behind and flipped about in the air so that they were now falling head first into the ground. At the last second though Joram let go and jumped off Genma's back before they both landed, making Genma land a perfect belly flop on the koi pond that resounded like a crash of thunder. Everyone winced at that.

Joram landed next to the pond on the large rock right beside the embedded katana. He crouched there for a moment with his elbow resting to the hilt of the katana before standing up again and heading into the pond to drag out the submerged Genma, the other clones of him disappearing in their own puffs of smoke. So what happened next was completely hidden from Ranma-chan's sight.

There came the sound of a large splash then a cry of shock followed by some pummelling sounds that ended with Joram flying out of the smoke screen head first to land on his back halfway back to the dojo. Then followed a very frightening looking panda that still glowed that orange-red colour. Ranma-chan heard that Sakura girl cry out about a panda then heard a thud. Ranma-chan didn't bother to look over. Everyone found his father's cursed form rather shocking the first time they see it. Ranma-chan once again caught some movement out of the corner of her/his eye and turned to see his mother pulling the family sword free from it's stone sheath and rush the panda that was her husband. Said panda reacted by using one of the Saotome weapon breaker techniques on the katana that left it broken a few inches above the guard, did a foot sweep then back pawed her across the face hard enough to send her flying half a dozen feet to land in a boneless heap.

Ranma-chan was now seeing red. She/he was not going to allow her/his old man to harm her/his mother! Again before Ranma-chan could do anything, the panda had reacted and was already over the compound wall and disappeared.

"Damn the old fool!" She cursed as she got to her feet and once again ran to her mother. She passed Joram as he lay on in the grass. She noticed a rather puzzled expression on his face but ignored it as she passed by. Her mother needed to be looked after.

Switch Scene

"Now, could you please tell me why you attacked me earlier?" Joram asked Mrs Saotome who sat across the table from him. She had all the broken remnants of her family sword laid out on the table in front of her. She was also holding a bag of ice to her cheek to keep the swelling down. The Tendos were all seated around the table where they could find room with Ranma-chan sitter to her mother's right, trying very hard to just sit still after all that had happened. She still really wanted to find out where her old man was so she could throttle him.

"It is a long story." She replied almost absently as she stared at the sword. At length she took the hilt portion of the broken sword, one of the more slender shards, and poked out the pins that held the handle pieces in place so that just the blade itself remained. On the hidden portion of the blade were some characters etched into the steel itself. What made Joram sit forward was the fact that it was in High Elven.

"Where-"

"Let me explain." Nodoka said as she both cut Joram off and handed him the hilt of his old sword, his now broken sword.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Where to begin?" Nodoka asked herself as she collected her thoughts. Joram sat across from her running his fingers over the Elven text as he sat and waited. He knew exactly what it said because he was the one that had etched it there just after he had forged it those many years ago.

"We'll start off by saying that this sword has been handed down in my family for close to six hundred years. Yes, my side, not the Saotome side." Nodoka said and confirmed when she got an inquiring look from Soun. "The legend passed down by my family says that our clan founder had gone on a long journey to perfect his skills with the sword. One day on his journey he heard a call from a mountain, a call that could not be ignored. It seemed to travel on the wind along side him as he continued his search. Finally one day he could ignore it no longer; he headed straight for the mountain.

"He came to the last village that he would pass on his way to the mountain and worked for a month to get the needed supplies for the trek ahead. Many of the villagers came to like him, for they saw that he was an honourable man and warned him not to continue on his set path. The mountain was cursed they said. They told him of many monsters that lived on and under the mountain and of many other horrors. Still he was undaunted, and when the time came that he was able to leave with the supplies he had gathered, he left.

"He travelled another five days just to get to the base of the mountain. It is said that it took him another ten days to fight, and yes to even hide when the enemies were too many, his way to a secret entrance into the mountain. He knew of this entrance because the voice guided his way and told him where to look. At the entrance, just inside, he was once again guided by the voice and he found a stone box that contained two necklaces, one that had a pendant that held a blue crystal the shade of winter ice at its centre, the other a black crystal that seemed to steal the light around it.

"The voice said: "Do not take the fair one, for though it would protect you from evil and provide much light, soon you would be over come. Take the black one for it will allow you to see in this dark as though it were only early evening outside, and sense the approach of evil." Now he was torn between the two necklaces, for on the one hand he did not wish to be in the dark, he wanted to travel in the light. But on the other hand he did not wish to disobey the voice that had guided him thus far. At length he chose to listen to the voice and take the dark crystal even though he longed for the light.

"Soon though, he was once again on his way. True to her words he could see in the black of the mountain as though it were evening outside, and he reprimanded himself for having doubted. He travelled for days under the heavy skirt of the mountain above many times narrowly avoiding encounters that would overwhelm him in minutes.

"Then on the ninth day under the mountain his small tunnel led him to an enormous cavern that is said to have held a temple so large that it dwarfed any castle he had seen in all his days. All around the temple there were set many large crystals on tall pillars, all providing light enough to compete with the sun at its peak it the sky. As he was approached the voice once again instructed him, this time to remove the necklace and put it away for safe keeping. This time he obeyed without question and headed to the front steps of the temple.

"On his way he took notice of thousands of skeletons from dozens of different creatures, most of which he did not recognize for they were so different from anything he had ever seen before in his life. The thing that caught his attention though was the fact that none of those bones crossed the line between the pillars. This made him pause and ask of the voice what it meant. The voice told him that those of evil hearts and intent could not enter this sacred place. That he was not to worry for he was someone without evil in his heart. Taking courage at these words he once again continued on his way, crossing the line between the pillars without fear.

"When he came to the doors of the temple he was again impressed at the size of the building, for the doors themselves were taller than the length of ten men. He was then instructed to place his hand on one of the two metal plates that were found on either side of the almost invisible seam of the tall doors. When he did as instructed a pillar of while light shone about him for a moment and the doors swung open on silent hinges.

"He expected the air in the temple to be old and foul, but a sweet smell came to him that reminded him of flower covered hills in the spring. He went into the temple with a heart that was light with content and passed many libraries that were each larger than many villages he had seen throughout his long travels.

"After walking for some time he finally arrived at the centre of the temple and saw the source of the voice that had been guiding him. Before him he found a spirit standing before a large stone sarcophagus. The spirit was of a woman that had passed on untold years before.

"She told him of many things that I don't have time to go over here, but among them was that she awaited to be released by the one who made this sword. That it was up to him and his descendants to find the maker of the sword and lead him back to the temple so that she could finally rest in peace.

"Now, along with the sword he was given a book made from thin leafs of some silvery metal that he did not recognize. It had more writings that resembled what was written on the sword, as well as a few others that seemed to be completely different. The book was meant to instruct you on how to release her from her vigil. Unfortunately the book went missing at the end of the Edo era and hasn't been seen since." Nodoka finished.

"So, why did you know to attack me? And you still haven't answered the "why" part of the attacking question." Joram said from where he sat, absently twirling the piece of the sword between his fingers as he tried to get a feel for the magical energies still in the sword. There had been some pretty hefty enchantments added after he had parted with it those many years ago.

"Along with the sword he was given a very accurate description of you, right down to the way you tie your hair." Nodoka replied as she reached into her kimono and pulled out a scroll. "He was also given a drawing of you, and has since had his descendants draw it out and memorize it once they reached the age of ten." She then held out the scroll to Joram.

Joram undid the royal blue ribbon that kept the dark green scroll tied tight. Once he opened it though his eyebrow began to twitch. "You mean to say that you attacked me based on this drawing?"

"Yes." Nodoka replied simply.

"Do you have any idea HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD LOOK LIKE THIS!" Joram yelled as he turned the drawing around and showed it to everyone.

"I don't know, it looks an awful lot like you." Akane said and Asuza nodded her agreement. "Yeah, how could she not make the connection?" Kasumi said as her father nodded. Said picture in question, by the way, looked something like a fifth grader would draw in their spare time. The "guy" in the picture was a tall man in black clothing with swords on back and at hip and his hair tied up high on his head. There also seemed to be some sort of crown on his head. Aside from the bag, the hair and maybe the crown; it looked nothing like him!

Joram's head hit the table as he "grrr'd" in frustration.

"As for the "why" part of the question, the spirit said that you would recognize the sword as your work and become intrigued. She said that after that he need only explain the situation and you would agree to help." Nodoka said in conclusion. All present at the meeting waited with an air of anticipation.

"So you want me to find a lost mountain, travel nine days under said mountain to find a long lost temple that may fry me when trying to cross the protective barrier just to put a ghost to rest?" Nodoka nodded. Joram again sighed in frustration. "Do you have any idea how long it's gonna take to prepare for something like this?" Joram asked the matriarch of the Saotome family.

"It should only take a couple of days to gather the appropriate supplies." Nodoka answered.

"Yes, probably only that long to get the needed supplies, but it'll take me a good month to re-forge that sword so that it'll work the way it was supposed to." Joram said in exasperation as he flipped the hilt over and over in his left hand. "And does anyone here know of a forge that I could use uninterrupted for a month?"

"That will require some looking into, but I assure you that it won't be a problem." Nodoka replied.

"Heck, I'll even help her look into it." Nabiki said with a gleam in her eye. Ranma had just about started to hope that there might be a hope for her, but it was for naught when she finished what she had to say. "For a price of course."

Joram just shrugged and pulled out a small leather pouch from his shoulder satchel and began to finger through what was inside. Asuza, or rather Sakura, being right beside him leaned over and gasped in surprise at what she saw. This reaction really piqued Nabiki's interest and she started to edge her way closer to Joram. Meaning that she tried to elbow Sakura out of her way to get a look. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for Joram, he finished by taking something small out, pulling the draw strings closed and shoving the pouch back into the satchel.

"This should be more than enough to cover any rental fees that might be charged for the months' work at the forge." Joram said as he handed the item to Nodoka who covered her surprise quite well. Meaning that her eyes only bugged out slightly. Had Genma been there, well, everyone knows what would have happened then. As it was Nabiki's eyes dilated slightly and she got a funny look on her face. What everyone was staring at was a small sapphire about the size of a woman's pinkie finger nail. That wasn't the most interesting thing about the gem though; it had what looked like a tiny little star in the middle. It wasn't shining or anything, or rather it didn't produce any light of its own. It managed to catch the light in the room and refract it in amazing ways. The gem itself was uncut, though it had been polished to a mirror shine, making it look like a tiny, shiny, egg.

"Where did you get something like that?" Mr Tendo asked as he wept for the beauty of the gem.

"Oh, uh, that one I found amongst a Lich's hoard about ten years back." Joram said casually as he remembered that one fight. It had taken a while to win that one, but in the end he wound up casting heal on the thing and it crumbled. Joram smiled at the memory. Everyone just blinked at him. He then remembered that there probably hasn't been a lich on this planet for a good hundred thousand years or so. He sighed. "I was dungeon crawling and ran across a monster of great strength and when I defeated it I took what treasure I could find." He hoped that that explanation would be better. As expected everyone present "ahh'd" and nodded, Mr Tendo trying to look the most sage while doing so.

"Ok, now that that is taken care of," Joram said to change the subject. "Any idea where this mountain is?"

"The only clue was that it was in the Qing Hai province in China." Nodoka replied, Joram blinked in the usual way he did when he had no clue. On the other hand Ranma-chan perked right up.

"Really? Then as a martial artist's duty, I must accompany you all on this trip." She said without even thinking about it. Akane elbowed her in the ribs and gave a significant look at Ranma-chan's chest. Ranma-chan gave her a puzzled look, then comprehension dawned on her cute face. The look of shattered hope on her face was almost crushing. "Auntie Saotome? You wouldn't happen to be going on this trip too, would you?"

"Why yes Ranko-chan, I would." She said with a concerned look on her face. "But you needn't worry, we'll be all right. You don't have to come if you don't want to." Nodoka said as she misinterpreted the look of sadness on Ranma-chan's face.

"Anyway, that can be discussed later. We do have a whole month or so to clear all this up." Joram said from where he sat. "Now, could someone please explain to me how it was that I was fighting an old man one second, then a huge panda the next?" Joram looked around at the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. Nodoka had a confused look on her face for a moment, everyone else started to look panicked, then comprehension dawned on her face.

"That was Genma, wasn't it?" She asked in a cold tone of voice. "I though I recognized its fighting style." Everyone backed up a step or two, including Joram, as she began to get a faint red glow around her that just so happened to highlight the red in her hair in a very complimentary way. 'It's odd what sticks out in times of great danger.' Joram thought to himself as Nodoka continued to glare in his direction. After a moment though he realized that her glare was focussed through him, not at him. Even then he edged to the side slightly, trying very hard not to be in the way of a potential attack.

Then Nodoka turned and regarded Ranma-chan. Suddenly she… glided, that could be the only word used to describe how she moved, across the floor and stopped in front of Ranma-chan and regarded her for a time. Joram was struck by just how much they looked like each other. Ranma-chan could have been a younger version of Nodoka, and Nodoka an older version of Ranma-chan. At length she said: "Ranma?" In a very uncertain tone of voice that trembled slightly.

Ranma-chan looked as though she wanted to sprout wings and fly away right then and there. But seeing no way out of it she turned to her mother and regarded her for a moment before answering. "Yeah, it's me mom." Ranma-chan looked as though she were accepting a voluntary death sentence when she said it though. Kasumi had come up behind Ranma-chan at some point and was holding a kettle of hot water. Smiling happily, because she always had thought it wrong that Ranma lie to his own mother like that, she dumped some of the hot water on her head, now his head.

Nodoka's eyes widened and began to fill with tears. Ranma mistook the look for disappointment and began to babble about how it was a training accident and that he was waiting to find a cure before letting her see him again. He was promptly shut up by his mother latching onto him like she never intended to let him go again.

Ranma was stupefied. Never before had he come across a situation like this. Sure Shampoo had glomped onto him more times than he can count, not to mention the many other girls that were always trying to get him. But never someone that was genuinely happy to see him. No other motives, plots, designs, nothing. Just him. Just happy to be with him. "So does this mean I no longer have to commit sepuku?" Ranma asked after a moment because he was somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that his mother had still not let go. At hearing that though she pushed him to arms' length and regarded him with confused expression.

"What on earth are you talking about?" She asked; her eyes first focussing on his left eye, then his right and going back again and again between the two.

"I found a contract amongst the old man's stuff one day that said if I didn't come back as a man among men, we would both have to commit sepuku." Ranma started to explain then stopped as his mothers' expression turned from one of confusion to that of the most profound horror.

"I have never heard of such a thing Ranma." Nodoka whispered out finally. Then her expression changed to one of utmost rage. "If that is the reason why I haven't been able to see my son for almost eleven years, I'm going to have a new panda skin throw rug very soon." At this proclamation, and the fact that her eyes were now glowing a ruby red, everyone around the table backed off slightly, even Ranma. Nodoka then reached for her sword and instantly came back down to a sane power level as her disappointment became evident.

"Don't worry Mrs. Saotome-" Joram started to say but was cut off.

"Nodoka will do." She said in a cold, cold tone of voice that could freeze even a Canadian (A.N. - Sorry, had to put that in there, eh….).

"Then don't worry Nodoka, I'll have the sword made as fast as I can. You have my word on that." Joram pledged in his most solemn tone of voice. "Heck, I could even build my own forge if I had the materials to do so. That might save some time trying to find one to rent." Joram said as he looked around at those gathered. Kasumi was smiling as usual; Mr Tendo tried to look contemplative, Nabiki greedy, Akane pensive, Shampoo curious, Fang boy confused, mummified monkeys- "Gah!" Was what Joram had to say about them as he spotted them sitting behind Mr Tendo where they wouldn't be spotted as quickly.

"Interesting story m'boy." The male monkey said. Joram had thought he heard him being referred to as the "master". "So tell me; who are you exactly?" The first mummified monkey he had met, being the female, quipped in. "And do try and give a straight answer sonny."

"A… ah, straight answer, huh?" Joram stalled. Both monkeys nodded in that all knowing way masters of the art use when dealing with an initiate, or rather new trainee. Let it be known that Joram had always been told to respect his elders. "I'm a warrior from two hundred thousand, or so, years in the past and through extraordinary circumstances that were out of my control, I find myself in your day and age." Joram said once the noise of the new arrivals had died down. Heck, he had even missed a new guy dressed in robes with glasses on his head. How did these people get here? And when had they come?

Joram looked around at all those gathered to hear the story and was somewhat disappointed to find that they were only giving him blank stares. Well not the two monkeys, they were just nodding away at the thoughts that were skittering through their very ancient brains.

"You forget mention that you can come back to life." Shampoo added happily. Joram just about smacked his forehead in frustration. He had really hoped that no one would bring that up.

"Now that you mention it, how old are you if you can just keep coming back to life? Or is it that you only have so many times you can come back? Or is it so many times a month, week, or day…?" Joram then performed his first ceiling cling as the life form he had taken to be a mouse sitting behind him actually turned out to be a person. Probably the only thing that saved the man's life was the fact that Joram's danger sense hadn't gone off. 'Just a surprise, just a surprise….' Joram repeated in his head as he consciously calmed his heart rate with a few meditative techniques he had learned over the years. After a few moments pause he dropped back down to the ground and made a thorough scan of the area using both his sense life and sense death abilities to do so. After a moment of searching he was satisfied enough to sit back down and regard the new guy.

The new guy was wearing glasses and looked rather harmless to the untrained eye, but he kind of gave of the aura of a medical specialist. 'That could be dangerous.' Joram thought to himself as he continued to collect himself.

"As for my coming back to life, quite frankly that is none of your concern." Joram said matter-of-factly and got a few disappointed reactions. "Now, who are all you people!" Joram asked, very exasperated. Introductions were then made for the ones he didn't know. Fang boy's name was Hibiki Ryoga, robe boy was Mousse, and the other mummified monkey type guy was Happosai. All looked and felt quite dangerous.

"Good to meet all of you." Joram said pleasantly once the introductions were taken care of. "Now Nabiki," Joram turned to the middle daughter, "if you could make the arrangements to have the materials delivered as soon as possible that would be great. The sooner you can get it here the sooner we can get that sword fixed and leave on this adventure."

"No problem." Was all she said before leaving the living room to head to her room.

"Nodoka," Joram then turned to the woman that looked so much like Monica, though now that he had time to look at her, more like Elanya. That was something to think about another time though. "You can use this sword in the mean time. It's nothing special, but it is well made." Joram said as he took out a katana from his shoulder satchel. None of them really blinked and eye at that, which kind of surprised him.

"Thank you Joram." Nodoka said graciously. "But I cannot accept a blade until the one that was broken is re-forged."

"Well then you can use it for our sparring sessions then." Joram said decisively and handed her the sword. "Ranma, when can you begin training Asuza?" Joram asked as he turned to the young man that only looked a year or two younger than him.

"I guess we can train before and after school." Ranma said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Though you cannot teach her any of the Amazon techniques that you have learned from me." Cologne said from where she sat. Joram turned and regarded her form a moment before shrugging at the same time as Ranma.

"Whatever." Again both said it at the same time and both looked at the other.

"Oh how nice. You both should get along quite well if you think that much alike." Kasumi said from where she was passing out cookies for everyone. While Ranma looked a wee bit annoyed Joram just laughed.

Switch Scene; The next Day

"I'm glad we could all gather here today to discuss this emergency that our Princess doesn't even want to consider." Setsuna said from the head of the dining room table at Haruka and Michiru's house. Those gathered, on the left from where Setsuna sat, was Mamoru, and on the right were Haruka and Michiru.

Mamoru didn't look all too pleased today though. Usagi had opted to go out with Makoto, Ami, Minako and Rei to look for that Joram character. Their objective wasn't the one he would have chosen. Quite frankly it was about the last one he would have ever thought of…. Grrr.

"We are here to come up with a way to get rid of this Joram character. Because of him Crystal Tokyo has been altered beyond recognition and I can't even be certain that Princess Serenity even rules there." Setsuna said from where she sat.

"How can get rid of him though? I ran him through with my cane and he still nearly killed me." Mamoru said from where he sat. "Usagi even wants to protect him. So what can we do?"

"It's not that he's only powerful, and he certainly is powerful, but he had the protection of a goddess." Setsuna said and all those gathered gasped in surprise. Well, not Michiru. Hotaru had warned her about continuing against Joram.

"How are we to fight against that!" Mamoru demanded heatedly from where he sat on the edge of his chair. He didn't look good these days. It looked as though he hadn't been sleeping all that well or all that frequently.

"This is my plan." Setsuna said as she leaned forward slightly, a glint in her eye.

Switch Scene

"Hotaru?"

Hotaru turned to regard the woman in black that was walking beside her down the street, but who only she could see. "What is it Katreen-sama?" Hotaru asked as she once again began to look where she was walking. She didn't want to bump into anyone after all.

"I don't think the warning I gave Pluto the other day quite sank in." Katreen said in a conversational tone of voice as she walked with her earthly agent.

"She is quite stubborn." Hotaru offered.

"Yes, but this time she could get more than a little hurt. I honestly don't want to see her get killed. And if she does get killed I don't think Joram will be all too inclined to bring her back." Katreen continued conversationally. "Or he may do worse than kill her if she does something particularly bad."

"What could he do to her that would be worse than killing her?" Hotaru asked after waiting for a group of girls from her high school to pass them by. None of them liked her to begin with, and if they saw her talking to herself she would have problems for the next month.

"He could either seal her powers, or remove them completely." Katreen said seriously.

"How could he do that?" Hotaru demanded, completely shocked.

"He's not from your time, remember? He grew up in a time when things were a lot different from what they are now, or even in the Silver Millennium. His time was a time of magic, mystery, danger and uncertainty. In some ways the people of his time were way more advanced than the people of this time. Back then they focussed on self improvement for power, either through the mind and body, or that of magic. He devoted his time to studying it all, and he's lived from a couple hundred years already." Katreen paused, then added for emphasis: "And he _is_ my avatar."

"That's true. I did warn Michiru mama to stay away from him, but Haruka papa didn't want to listen. She's even more stubborn than Michiru is."

"I know, and that's why I want you to go and warn them one last time. The only reason why he spared Mamoru was because of Usagi. He doesn't have a problem killing those that are trying to kill him." Katreen said as they stopped in front of Hotaru's house, the house that was currently housing the conspirators. "One thing that might save them though is the fact that he is curious." Hotaru gave Katreen a questioning glance as she opened the front gate. "He usually tries to first find out why they want to kill him before he acts." Katreen said as she began to fade like mist in the wind.

"Always dramatic." Hotaru murmured to herself as he approached the house and wondered what she was going to say to the conspirators.

Switch Scene

"That's pretty daring." Michiru said from where she now stood beside Haruka. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. From what she could remember, and she could remember a lot from her life during the Silver Millennium, what Pluto proposed was a major violation of her entrusted powers. "But it could very well work…."

"Can you do it though?" Mamoru asked while leaning back in his chair. He seemed more calm and collected now. As though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I believe that it is quite possible to do." Setsuna said from behind steepled fingers. "I-" She cut off as she heard the front door open. A moment later Hotaru walked in. Setsuna was always amazed when she saw the young girl. Not too long ago she had been just a baby. They had thought that she would stop growing at her accelerated rate when she reached the physical age of when she had used her Death Reborn Revolution, but she had continued to mature a few years past that to the point of being about the same age, physically, as Usagi and her friends.

"Hey guys." She said as way of greeting. "How's the plotting going?" Everyone that had gathered face faulted either onto the floor or onto the table, depending where they were situated. Mamoru wound up with a large line across his face from where he contacted the edge of the table.

"Why would you say something like that?" Haruka asked as she got up.

"It's written all over your faces." Hotaru replied, enjoying the minor panic that could be seen in their eyes. It's not that she was sadistic or anything. It's just that they were going against the wishes of her goddess, who just so happened to be her best friend.

No one knew that she had spent most of her childhood in the company of Katreen. When she was a baby and couldn't express herself the way her grown up mind wanted Katreen was there to listen and comfort her when she needed it. She had been there whenever she had needed someone to talk to, especially when she couldn't talk to Haruka or Michiru. She loved those two like her own parents, but she needed someone else to confide in as well. Katreen had been that person. Katreen had even gone so far as to help her understand her powers a lot better, and especially how to control them. Katreen had even told her of the Saturn kingdom and how it was set up. That had been somewhat… enlightening, or even shocking.

"You guys should really stop all this nonsense before someone really gets hurt." Hotaru said earnestly.

"Hotaru! That's enough!" Haruka said from the table as she smacked her hand down on the table, resulting in a very loud smacking sound. Michiru put her hand on Haruka's shoulder to quiet her.

"What makes you think anyone is going to get hurt?" Michiru asked in that kind voice of hers.

"He's her Avatar." She said slowly, trying to emphasize every word. "Do you have any idea what that means?" She asked of those gathered. "You could consider me a subordinate to Joram." She added to get her point across. That gave them pause. She didn't bother to tell them that if they were to be compared, she would be the grenade, and he would be the high powered sniper rifle. Both are effective, but each has their own applications.

Switch Scene

Katreen felt a slight twinge of regret, very small, for having told a small lie. Joram didn't have any remorse killing any of the evil races; goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, orcs, ogres, trolls, and such. He did, though, have problems killing humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and the like. He had a tendency to try and talk things out. Admittedly enough it did work from time to time, but mostly not. That tendency happened to have cost him many points along the way, not that she minded though. That just meant that she could see him more frequently...

Katreen sighed out loud as she walked through the halls of her keep. She smiled to herself as she remembered the first time Joram had come to this place. He had been the first human to see it as it was, not as he had wanted it to be. Come to think of it, there had only been one other who had seen it for what it was. Ever.

Again she sighed out loud. Maybe she shouldn't have warned that woman again; that way she could see Joram again sooner than she normally would be able to. That is if he wasn't paying enough attention again...

Switch Scene

"Could you please sit still for more than two minutes?" Joram asked in exasperation as he tried to remain patient. It wasn't easy though. Asuza kept on fidgeting about, which made it much more difficult to get this physical exam over and done with.

"How can I? You're tickling me!" Asuza responded with an attempted finger jab to Joram's ribs. Said finger was caught though and placed, along with the rest of her hand, on her knee.

"Could you please sit still? This will only take another ten minutes. That's it, nothing else, no more worries." Joram trying very hard to stay calm and collected. He even tried to give one of his winning smiles, but it didn't quite have the usual effect of winning the person over.

"Could you stop smiling at me like that? It's really creepy." Asuza said from her spot on the floor right in front of Joram. Joram re-focussed on her and dropped his smile right away. Her hand was beginning to twitch. "Ok, fine! I'll sit still for ten minutes, no more!" She said in that tone of voice that women used when they would brook no more nonsense. She then re-positioned herself so that she, almost perfectly, imitated a statue of Buda. This was, of course, lost on Joram; having missed the whole Buddhist thing due to his jaunt through time.

"Ok, ok. I got it. I'll do it with my eyes closed, that way you don't have to worry about me staring at you." Joram said as he extracted himself from his hole and once again sat down in front of Asuza.

"How are you going to do it with your eyes closed?" Asuza asked with scorn in her voice to hide the interest she didn't want to show.

"With my chakra of course." Joram said with a smile as he closed his eyes and placed his left hand on her forehead and his right hand over her heart. "Your heart rate has increased. Try and calm it by taking deep, long breaths-." Joram was interrupted from saying the rest by a fist to the face that embedded him in the dojo wall, twelve feet away.

"That hurt you know." Joram said, unintentionally mimicking Kuno to a tee.

"Touching my…. Your hand…. Aaarrrraaaaaagghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

'What on earth did I do now?' Joram asked himself as he watched as Asuza got to her feet and began to charge at him, fist ready for another blow. Joram watched as though the scene before him were playing at a fraction of the speed it should. He noticed her poor form in the attack itself; how her arm was cocked at the wrong angle, and that her centre of balance was way off. For some reason, though, her face was all red. Maybe it was just her blood pressure going through the roof.

So Joram sat and watched as Asuza came closer and, when the time was just right, tilted his head to the right to avoid the almost surely fatal punch. What he didn't expect though was for the wall to explode.

Joram had a long second and a half to reflect on what had just happened as he and Asuza sailed through the air. 'Ok. Fist flying at me, tilted head….' Was what Joram pondered as he flew but was again interrupted, that was really starting to get on his nerves, by the approach of the floor.

Unfortunately there seemed to be something interfering with the movement of his shoulder, and as a result prevented him from rolling with the fall and landed hard on his shoulder that wasn't responding. The pain upon impact was nothing less than… exquisite. Pained seemed to blossom like a sky rose that the gnomes would send up at special times of the year; large and bright. One good thing that seemed to struggle its way through the pain to show itself was the fact that he hadn't landed on Asuza. Unfortunately, Asuza was still conscious and regarding him with a look that could wither a cactus. It was odd what you thought of as someone was trying their best to do you serious bodily harm. Then her eyes went wide with shock as she focussed her attention behind him. That was when Joram identified that nagging feeling in the back of his head; it was his danger sense. Too late.

Joram found himself in that familiar grey landscape that surrounded Katreen's castle. He sighed. What had managed to send him here this time he wondered? With a sigh he began to run to the castle, not wanting to even waste the fraction of a fraction of a second it would take him to walk to the castle in "real" time.

Switch Scene

Asuza was astonished at what just happened. She could have sworn she was about to pulverize that jerk, but his just seemed to tilt his head to the side and avoided her punch completely. Then, inexplicably, the wall exploded as she hit it, sending them both flying through the air. She was somewhat glad that Joram had managed to take hold of her in the air. Unfortunately, there seemed to be many unfortunate things occurring these past few seconds, Joram didn't react fast enough and they both landed hard and rolled half a dozen feet.

When her world stopped spinning, she once again opened her eyes. Joram was laying there on the floor only a few feet away on his side looking dazed, a large piece of wallboard sticking through his shoulder, blood trickling down onto the dojo floor. Some movement behind him caught her attention.

A massive man made of metal was approaching, each step breaking though the floor of the dojo with a loud snapping/crunching sound. By the time she could react to it, it was already standing over Joram, sword raised. Joram seemed to sense something, for his face took on a surprised look a second before the monstrosity thrust its sword through his torso, entering his right ribcage and going all the way through. Asuza then did the most logical thing she could think of; she closed her eyes and screamed as loudly as she could.

Even while screaming she could still hear the sickening sound of the monster's sword being withdrawn from Joram's lifeless body. She then opened her eyes and saw the thing once again raise it's sword for another blow. Why it did so was beyond her; Joram was already dead.

"Mouko Takabisha!" Asuza turned her head quickly to the side to see Ranma launching some sort of ball of light at the metal monstrosity. It didn't seem to hear, but it definitely felt it. The large blast knocked the thing over to the right, tipping it off balance and sending it through the floor.

"What the hell was that thing!" Ranma demanded as he ran the rest of the way to where Asuza still lay propped up on her elbow.

"I don't know." She began to reply, then stopped as the monster stood itself up, not even a scorch mark showing on its shiny surface.

"What the hell!" Ranma once again demanded as he took up a fighting stance. The monster once again raised its sword and swung down at Joram's prone form.

Switch Scene

"You know you just lost a good twenty points, don't you?" Katreen said in her mock serious voice.

"I know, I know. Just send me back to I can do something about it, will you?" Joram replied impatiently.

"Not even a "thank you" this time?" Katreen pouted while giving him a sad look.

Joram took one look at her and cracked. "Gah, stop that!" He pleaded as he stepped close to her and gave her a hug. "You know I'm very appreciative of what you do and have done for me. I just need to get back and take care of the problem before something else happens."

"You do remember that time passes much more slowly here than back in the waking world, don't you?" She asked him, sounding a little puzzled from her spot at his shoulder.

"I know that. But you also know that I don't like to waste time, even in this realm. It also takes me a little while to get my bearings when I get back."

"Tsk." Katreen tsk'd as she pulled back slightly from his embrace. "Fine, but I would also like to give you one warning before you go." Joram raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "There seems to be a very powerful wizard after you, be careful."

"A wizard in this day and age?" Now that surprised him even more than being killed unexpectedly. "How is that possible?"

"That's all that I can say for now. Go now, and save your friends." Katreen said as she and her world faded from view.

Switch Scene

"What is that thing?" Ranma demanded as he jumped back to avoid a decapitating swing of the monster's sword, all the while nursing his broken fist. He'd tried to use his Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken on the enemy but after the first three punches his fist had shattered. Not even Ryoga had managed to harden himself as much. Though looking at the thing it did look as though it were made of solid metal. Even then, he had managed to at least dent thick steel in the past. This thing wasn't even scratched.

Motion from the corner of his eye caught his attention and so he took a quick glance over. What he saw really shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. This was just the way his luck went some days. Horribly. Another one of those metal giants made it's way through the large entrance to the dojo and was now making it's way, albeit very slow, over to them. Were the gods just mocking him some days, or what?

"Catch!" Someone yelled from the side. He reacted on instinct and caught the tossed objects in one hand and looked over to where the voice had come from. Once again he was surprised at what he saw. It was Joram standing up, in the process of tossing him something else. Ranma saw that is was a vial of some sort of blue liquid just before he caught it.

"What's this for?"

"It's heal you hand, drink it quickly!" Joram yelled back as he pulled the piece of would out of his shoulder. Ranma shuddered and uncorked the vial. The contents smelled sweet and tasty, so it wasn't through duress that he drank the fluid. Ranma was astonished at how good it felt going down, and how his hand began to set itself aright. In a mere second his hand was once again in its proper form.

"Now put those on so that you can actually do some damage to these things!" Joram yelled over as he took a vial of blue fluid and downed it in one gulp. As Ranma watched the wound in Joram's shoulder grew smaller and healed over in a matter of about two seconds. Giving himself a shake, Ranma looked at what Joram had thrown him. They looked like a set of bracers that extended up to just below the triceps and came over the back of the hand to cover the fist. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth Ranma strapped them on as fast as he could while dodging the next swing of the metal giant in front of him.

"Oh, and if it opens its mouth; get out of there as fast as you can." Joram yelled over. Ranma just muttered a little under his breath. 'What the hell were these things anyway? And how did Joram know how to fight them?'

Once Ranma had the weird bracers on he took another quick glance around the room. Sakura was in the process of scrambling out of the way and Joram had out both a katana and a wakasashi and was going all out on the first one, sending little bits of metal flying with every expert swing.

"Ha, can't let him show me up, can I?" Ranma asked himself quietly and he took another stance and waited for the giant to get within striking distance. It was odd; he'd always been a competitive person, but this Joram really seemed to bring it out in him even more than anyone else he knew. Then the metal giant came within range.

"Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken!" He yelled as he once again went on the attack. Ranma grinned as each punch impacted the monster. He hadn't even felt a twinge this time, and the metal monster now had a large indentation where most of his punches had connected.

Unfortunately it didn't seem to phase the monster very much beyond knocking it on its heels. As a result it had a good opening for an attack, and it took the opportunity presented to it by swinging diagonally down and to the left at Ranma.

Ranma realized this and instinctively raised an arm to block the blow, just realizing as the blow was millimetres away from his arm that that probably wasn't the best idea. The blow then impacted with enough force to send him flying across the room to be imbedded into the dojo wall.

As Ranma dislodged himself from the wall he marvelled at the fact his arm was still attached to the rest of his body. Heck, it wasn't even broken! The only thing that told him it had been hit at all was a slight tingling sensation right where the monster's sword had contacted. Then there was the bracer itself; not even a scratch. Ranma grinned then. This was going to be fun.

Switch Scene

He was having a good day. He'd managed to find the mole that was leaking information about his company and had added him, or rather parts of him, to his growing collection of bones and other bodily parts that came in handy for his various experiments.

He'd seen a movie a number of years back and it had really inspired him to strive to new heights. That's why he needed the body parts, namely the skin and the hair. He'd done a lot of thinking over the years on how to do it and he thought he might have come to a good conclusion. Necromancy. Such a useful sphere of magic that one. You could do so much with it.

That sphere alone had probably kept him alive long enough to get proper medical treatment after that incident…. To this day he still saw red when he thought about how he had ended up in Japan. Only very recently, due to some scrying that he had been doing, had he found out the name of the one who was responsible for is current condition. Joram.

A loud snapping sound brought him back to the present and he realized that he had snapped his pen in half and the ink was now running down his hand. With a disgusted sneer he threw the remains of his pen into the small trash can beside his large mahogany desk then took out a handkerchief and began to clean his hand off.

He paused in the process of cleaning his left hand and regarded his right hand. It was a beautiful piece of machinery. The finest to be had for sure, for he owned the most advanced robotic/ cybernetics company in Japan. Through hard work, study and a few spells here and there, he had managed to build a very strong empire for himself. Though in this day and age one couldn't simply do as he wished. One had to be subtle and patient when the time called for patience.

He had definitely learned patience these past twenty five years. And it had paid off. After much contemplation he had come to the conclusion that that Joram character must have been pulled through the rift in time as well. The only thing was, he hadn't been able to find out when exactly he would come out. Then just the other day he had felt a… ripple in time and he had known that his time for revenge was at hand.

He had even sent two of his iron golems to take care of Joram as soon as he was able to arrange for the spell. It had taken him up to today to finally pin point where Joram was hiding out. He had even managed to manipulate a strong martial artist into attacking him to see how well he could fight. Based on what he had seen though, those two golems should be more than enough.

And if not, well, he had many other creations he could send after Joram to weaken him to the point where he could go in person to finish him off. Oh, how sweet that would be. To feel the life drain out of Joram as he stood there strangling him to death…. Ooh, he'd just gotten goose bumps! This would be oh, so sweet.

Switch Scene

Ukyou couldn't believe what she was seeing. Ranma-honey was just pounding the metal giant if front of him with such ease that it almost looked laughable. It was a vivid contrast to his opening attack that had done next to nothing to the metal monstrosity. Then Joram had given Ranma those weird bracers and the tables had turned drastically. Ukyou was very glad that they had indeed turned, because if Ranma hadn't been able to do anything to it, well, the rest of them would have been completely helpless.

Then there was Joram. She had figured he was a good fighter by the way that he carried himself, but she had never thought him a swordsman. Even after the explanation he had given earlier that day she hadn't been able to wrap her head around it. And now the proof was in front of her; and what a swordsman he was! His swords were but a blur to her trained eyes. He made Kuno look like a toddler trying to copy a master of the Art. It was, quite simply, beautiful to behold.

That thought gave her pause. Of course Ran-chan was always number one in her books, but she really had to admit that Joram was, well, amazing. She wondered then; who would win in a fight if Joram used his swords? Ukyou immediately stopped that train of thought. Nothing good would happen if those two fought each other. Nothing good at all.

To help her get her mind off the unpleasant subject she decided to study how Joram fought. It was of no style that she could recognize. It was at once fluid and strong. Almost like an avalanche; it flows and can sweep anything out of its way. Or even a tidal wave. It's coming, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. It was almost frightening to behold.

Then she remembered how nice he was the first day she had met him; and how he had happened to walk by when she had been hit by that truck and had helped her. She remembered the kindness in his eyes that night and, inexplicably, the worry. No, this man was someone who you would count as lucky to be your friend. He seemed to be as loyal as Ranma, in his own way, when it came to those he cared about. And for some reason, he seemed to care about the people here.

Then Ranma caught her attention by jumping up and doing his Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken technique right to the metal giant's head. The first hundred hits smashed in the thing's face, then the next couple hundred knocked its head right off its shoulders. Ranma dropped to the ground stunned.

"I didn't mean-. I mean, I… I…" Ranma couldn't quite finish his gibbering he was so stunned and shocked. Ukyou was just as stunned. After the head had been knocked off she had been expecting a gory display, not a hollow suite of armour. It was eerie how the body, or rather suite, just stood there after its head had been knocked off.

Ranma finally got over his shock when he realized there was no blood coming out. He then crept up to the trunk of the body slowly, obviously wary of some sort of trick. In the mean time Joram was continuing his attack, sending bits of that hollow giant everywhere. The poor thing now looked as though it had been through a blender. Joram then took a moment to look back at Ranma to see how he was doing.

"Oh, you've finished already?" He asked as he dodged another clumsy swing of the metal giant. "Guess I'd better finish up, eh?" Everyone there just about face faulted. Joram didn't seem to notice as he turned back to his opponent and sheathed his wakasashi. He then spun his katana so that it was at the horizontal, tip pointed directly where the giant's heart would have been had it indeed been a living creature. Just before he thrust it in, Ukyou could have sworn that it turned a bright white. What was amazing though was that the katana made almost no noise going into the metal giant's chest.

He then did something really weird. She had only ever seen monks or shrine maidens do it. He did several hand seals. Now that wouldn't have been so odd, but he then started to glow an iron grey. As the light began to appear Joram once again took hold of his sword and pushed it in even further. As he did so the metal giant seemed to begin to glow as well, then to change. It was hard to describe how he began to change, almost like wax melting at the edges at first, then like water flowing. The whole time that was happening Ukyou was marvelling at the huge amounts of ki flowing from Joram. It was just amazing.

When the flowing and glowing of the metal ceased she was looking at a very large tanuki statue. "What do you think? Isn't he cute?" Joram asked, panting slightly. This time everyone did face fault. "I saw one of these my first day here and thought to myself; when I get a shop of my own, I'll have one of these outside of it." Joram said as he gazed fondly at the tanuki in front of him.

"How on earth did you do that?" Ukyou asked in amazement after she had picked herself up.

"Oh, the metal thing?" Joram asked as he came back to his surroundings. "I have an affinity with the earth element. It's easy once you know the trick, but it takes up a lot of chakra to do." Joram said, now starting to look a bit tired.

"That's all fine and dandy, but how're we gonna get these things out of the dojo?" Ranma asks, pointedly kicking at the head of the metal giant he's taken down, then cursing softly as his toes painfully crunched into it.

"That's a good point. Each one does weigh a couple of tonnes…." Joram mused to himself for a moment as he walked around the dojo, mindlessly kicking pieces of the metal giant to the center of the dojo where they had come from. "Sakura, be a honey and use this to collect the rest of the bits and pieces would you?" Joram asked as he tossed her a large metal staff with a metal sphere on one end the size of a cantaloupe. Everyone blinked, still not used to Joram doing a Mary Poppins. Asuza easily caught the staff and regarded Joram in a peculiar way.

"Sure, no problem." She said, then: "How?"

"It's magnetic." Was all Joram said as he pondered and continued to kick bits of metal to the center of the dojo.

Asuza once again looked at the ball tipped staff in her hands then just shrugged and went about passing the ball portion of the staff in front of her in large sweeping arcs. There were many small clanking and tinkling sounds as she made her way around the ruined dojo.

"Well, there's no choice but to add wheels." Joram concluded to himself with a self satisfied nod of his head.

"What good will wheels do? Those things broke through the floor just by walking? Nabiki asked from what remained of the door.

"That's true…." Joram admitted. "I guess we can just push them out the hole they came in from."

"What's all the commotion!" Mr Tendo demanded as he ran into the dojo and stopped dead. "My dojo!" Then he began the water works.

Joram sighed as the rest of the family came in and gathered around Mr Tendo to see what was up. Akane gasped but Kasumi just gave an "Oh, my!" before leaving; presumably to get a broom.

"You do know that this is going to cost you extra, don't you?" Nabiki then asked as she went up to examine the tanuki. "Hmm…. We could sell this to earn a bit of extra money." She commented.

"I don't know…." Joram mused. "I'm not entirely certain that the magic is gone from it yet."

"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked, backing away from the tanuki. There'd already been too many complications due to magical items in their past and she wasn't in any hurry to add another to the long list.

"Well, these things were golems. Not only are they almost impervious, but they also have a tendency to spew poisonous gas every few minutes when an enemy is around." When Joram mentioned the poisonous gas ever one in the room backed up all that much more from the tanuki.

"What are we keeping it for then?" Mr Tendo demanded Joram, attaching himself to Joram's shirt in the process.

"Well, there is the problem of them weighing a couple of tonnes." Joram began, but stopped when Mr Tendo's tears began to flow once more. "Gah! Stop that! You're a grown man, aren't you?" Joram demanded, trying to pry the vice like fingers off his shirt. At length he decided to just abandon the thing, it was ruined already anyway. So he quickly unlaced the ties on the front and dropped to the ground with his arms raised, successfully escaping.

Once free he slipped behind the distracted Mr Tendo and touched a couple of pressure points to put him to sleep for a bit. For added measure Joram even added a little chakra to the touch to make sure Mr Tendo would be out for a while. He then caught the man before he face planted into on of the holes in the floor and gave him to Akane.

"What did you do to him?" She asked, slightly worried.

"I put him to sleep. If you'd like I could teach you how to do that. I'm sure it'd save a lot of money in water damages."

Akane just gave him a blank stare. "I think you've mistaken me for my sister." He tone matched her stare to a tee. Ranma guh-fawed, but quickly covered it up with some fake coughing. He still got a mild glare from Akane.

"What?" Joram asked, slightly confused. "Anyway, could you give me a hand with this statue over here once I've put wheels on it?" Joram asked Ranma as he made his way over to the tanuki statue.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. No problem." Ranma said as he saw his mother coming. He guess that her bath had been interrupted because her hair was still held up by a towel, though she was completely dressed. She carried the sword Joram had lent her at the ready. Ranma had to resist the urge to run and hide. He sighed. It would take a while before he was once again used to being around his mother.

"What's going on here?" She demanded once she arrived. She took one look around and her eyes widened considerably, especially when she saw Joram without a shirt. "What happened?" She asked with a mixture of awe, horror, and curiosity. Joram sighed.

"How about I explain all this once I get the place cleaned up, eh?" Joram said as Asuza finished her rounds with the magnetic staff and headed over to him. It looked as though there was a good five hundred pounds of iron on the thing, but she only looked as though it were something as heavy as her school bag. Joram stared. And so did every one else.

"I'm all done. Where'd you like it put?" She asked sweetly, giving a wonderful smile that dripped sarcasm.

Joram gulped. "Guess that's one of the side effects…." He muttered to himself. Louder he said, "You can just put it over by the tanuki." Smiling, she complied by dropping it on the floor, making another hole in the process.

"Wow, you should get the floor checked. It shouldn't break like that under such a light weight." At this, Joram face faulted. "What?" Asuza asked innocently.

"Ranma, how much can you pick up?" Joram asked him once he got up.

"I don't know. A few hundred pounds?" He really didn't know; he'd never actually gone to a gym to test it.

"Ok then. Pick up that staff Sakura was using." Ranma gave him a weird look. "Please?"

"Fine, fine." Ranma said as he went over to pick up the staff. His mother was now watching the whole thing, curious as to what was going on.

Ranma reached for the staff and took hold. He gave it an experimental tug, but it didn't give an inch. Now convinced that it might be heavy he took it in both hands and heaved for all he was worth.

Pop.

Ranma fell over backwards grabbing at his lower back. "What the hell?" He asked as he lay there in pain. It felt as though he'd thrown out his back again.

"Oh my." Kasumi said yet again as she re-entered the dojo, this time referring to Ranma. Then she turned to regard Joram. "Oh my." She repeated and blushed slightly.

"Are you all right son?" Nodoka asked as she rushed to Ranma's side to see how he was doing.

"What happened here?" Ryoga asked as he came into the ruined dojo and looked around.

"How heavy is that thing?" Both Ranma and Asuza asked at the same time.

"What? This thing?" Ryoga asked as he walked over to the staff and lifted with both hands, making it look as though it weren't all that heavy at all. "I'd say it's a good five hundred pounds or so." He then dropped it back to the ground with a loud thud. "So, what happened here? Ranma lose another fight?" He goaded.

"No more than I lose to you P-chan." Ranma goaded right back, which prompted Ryoga to grab the staff in on hand this time and to take a swing at Ranma; all the while yelling how he was going to pulverize him and how much pain he was going to inflict on him to pay him back for the years of pain that Ranma had put him through. Ranma, as usual, just dodged the attacks, albeit with slightly less grace than usual, though he did goad Ryoga along the whole time. Ranma was even profiting from the extra protection the bracers gave him.

This behaviour, of course, resulted in many more holes appearing all throughout the dojo. While Nabiki was just totalling the new damages on a calculator she always kept on her for just such an occasion, Akane was starting to get mad.

"Would you to STOP IT?" Akane yelled as she pulled out her extra large mallet and used it like a five iron and knocked them both out of the dojo.

"Wow." Was all Joram could think to say at that point. "To think someone of this era could master the Dimensional Hammer is nothing short of amazing."

He remembered the legends of how the goddess of protection had granted the Dimensional Hammer as a divine gift to those women who were in trouble and called upon her name. This Akane must have been in some serious trouble, and frequently, in the past to have managed to acquire such a large mallet…. Snapping out of it Joram slowly backed away from the enraged Akane. No need to be knocked into the next city.

"So, uh, if everyone could just head inside; I'll see what I can do about repairing the place before I follow along, hey." Joram was really trying to appear non-threatening and soothing. Again, there was no need to attract the ire of one who holds the Dimensional Hammer. It still looked as though Akane wanted to club something.

"C'mon sis. No need to do more damage to the dojo." Nabiki mildly chided her younger sister as she put an arm around her to get her heading in the right direction, and to hopefully avoid any more property damage.

"Why can't they just get along?" Akane asked more to herself than anyone present.

"Don't take too long; there are things I'd still like to discuss with you before the night is out." Nodoka told Joram before she too left the dojo.

"Would you like my help removing that scrap metal since Ranma-kun is no longer here?" Asuza asked as she looked around at the place. That Ryoga had caused just about as much damage to the place as the metal giants had.

"Yeah, that would be great. Well one thing is for sure; you are now freakishly strong due to drinking a full chalice." Joram said and immediately ducked to avoid a blow to the head that could have knocked it off his shoulders.

"Well soooooooooory for being a freak! Who was the one who told me to drink it? How was I supposed to know to only take a sip?" Each question was punctuated by a swing at Joram.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing! And it's not my fault your brain translated that word that way!" Joram continued to dodge a few more swings before Asuza started to get tired. "If you'd just let me do the exam I could tell you what to expect in the future."

"Yeah, not going to let you touch me there again!" This time she tried a kick; no success.

"What are-?" Joram cut himself off then when he remembered exactly where he had placed his hand. "Those are just some pressure points that make the exam easier and more accurate! No need to try and kill me. I am a physician after all."

"What the hell kind of doctor touches a girl there?" Asuza demanded from where she stood, now too tired to do much more than breath heavily.

"The only one on the planet that had a hope in the nine hells to tell you what to expect!" Joram shot back. "For example; why your hair is starting to go all silver."

"What are you talking about?" Asuza demanded now feeling a little self conscious under Joram's scrutiny.

"Just have a look for yourself." Joram said as he pulled out a small mirror from his shoulder satchel on the floor. Noticing that he still hadn't put on another shirt he also took out one of the t-shirts his clone had purchased earlier that week.

Gibber, gibber, and some more gibber was what came from Asuza when she spotted the first few strands of silvery hair. It even had some really light blue highlights to it.

"What's happening to my hair?" She almost shrieked (by "almost", I mean she only missed it by a decibel or so). It was bad. As she was watching several more hairs began to change to that silvery colour.

"Like I said, if you'd let me examine you I could-" Joram was cut off by the vice like grip of Asuza's hand on his wrist, then shocked when she pulled his hand over to rest over her breast. She snatched his other hand and placed it on her forehead.

"Then do the exam already!" She growled.

"Let's sit down then." Joram said as he pulled away slightly so that they could do just that. The look in her eyes was frightening to behold. It burned with a feverish light that didn't look as though it would die down until it got the answers it was looking for.

"Now, breathe like this." Joram said as he demonstrated. With obvious effort Asuza regulated her breathing and mimicked Joram's perfectly. He was pleasantly surprised by this though. Usually it took a few tries to get this one down right; the timing had to be just so.

"Now close your eyes. Picture, in your mind, the starry sky at night; how it seems to go on forever. Imagine yourself in the midst of those stars. Feel how weightless you are, how every movement shifts your being." Joram continued on those kinds of images as he once again placed the tips of his fingers on the pressure points needed to do this examination effectively. He was very glad to note that she didn't hit him this time, let alone flinch.

"The universe is your mind, and your body is your soul. Feel how your soul and mind interact with each other, the connections that are there. Feel how the energies flow through your soul and mind to your body, how they change and reform into what is needed to keep your body functioning." Joram continued to drone on in hopes of getting her to center herself better. It was far easier to get a better picture of things when the patient was more centered.

He then focussed the part of his mind that he needed to regulate the chakra flows needed to thoroughly examine her. What he found at first was of no surprise. Her body was in perfect physical condition. Her body strength was enormously huge though; her bone and muscle density has increased exponentially. Again, no surprise there thanks to her display earlier.

He then checked on the rest of her system. Her health was amazing; her immune system was off the charts, as was her ability to heal. It was on par with his regenerative abilities. Her system also seemed to have… streamlined itself. Her digestive capabilities were almost as good as a dragon's, and there seemed to be no un-needed extras. That's why her hair was changing pigment; there was no reason for her body to use the extra resources to keep it dark.

Joram did some more… digging to see exactly how far reaching the changes would be. Her lung efficiency seemed to be getting better, and her stamina was already growing from the minor exertion of swinging at him for a few minutes. After several more minutes of digging he almost gasped. This was totally amazing. He had never come across a human like this before.

There was also something that he couldn't quite identify, something that was recessive but was now very prominent. It was something that he should know. Something familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it; it was too vague for the time being.

Then there was the rest of her life to consider. What would happen if she had children? Would they inherit the same abilities, or just a few? Would they get the same abilities as their siblings, or would each inherit something different? Was this the beginning of a new special bloodline? Something to be feared: or something to be cherished?

Yet again Joram's musings were interrupted by a shift in his environment. There seemed to be some sawing sounds coming from somewhere. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and just about began to laugh. Asuza had become a little too relaxed and had fallen asleep. Joram smiled to himself as he lay her down and watched her sleep for a time. Judging by her reaction to just a loch of hair changing to that odd silvery colour, she would kill him when she woke up and looked in a mirror.

Joram gave a sigh and got up. This would take considerably more chakra. But he first had to cast a warding on himself to avoid detection through scrying. He couldn't afford to take a wizard lightly, especially one that could create golems. He didn't want to endanger his new friends. "Well no more than they had already been." Joram silently amended to himself.

Through the years he had found that wizards liked to scry for people who they thought might be dangerous to them and/or their ambitions. He had himself ended the life of a couple of dozen wizards over the years, and had studied the scrying spells said wizards liked to use. So, with the help of the Hokage of his time, he had developed and perfected a jutsu that shrouded the caster; making them seem non-existent. It had come in very handy over the years, and had even saved the village once because the enemy generals couldn't find the Anbu squads after them, let alone the Hokage and most of the Juunin. Now if he could just remember how it went….

Several minutes later he finally managed to find the scroll the jutsu was recorded on and was sitting on the floor next to Asuza while he went through the jutsu in his head. It was a little more complicated than he remembered. That gave him pause. He really must be slipping if the jutsu he helped, in no small part, to create was giving him troubles. He was going to have to train!

Then he remembered the promise he'd made to re-forge the sword and heaved a sigh of resignation. He'd have to train after that was done. Or maybe he could forge the sword in that place. It would go a lot quicker, here in the real world that is. He seriously considered going there for a moment before he realized that the opening of that portal would attract any magically sensitive people for hundreds of leagues around. And that wouldn't do, especially when there was that mystery mage running around.

Joram sighed. He'd have to do it the long way. But that wasn't so bad; he'd at least get some time to practice his sword smithing techniques. And who knows? Maybe even try a new trick or two…? Joram shook his head. 'Must concentrate on the jutsu!' He silently chided himself as he once again began to study the scroll intently.

At length he rolled up the fine parchment made scroll and stood up. Joram cast his senses out yet again to scan the area for any would-be-spies. After another moment he nodded to himself; completely satisfied that they weren't being observed. It was time.

Joram performed many different hand seals so fast that it seemed his hands were a blur, chanting under his breath as he did so. After a couple of minutes of this he once again reached into his satchel and pulled out a small vial, unstoppered it, and smeared a small amount of the clear fluid across his forehead, just under the diadem, and under his eyes. Joram then replaced the cork in the vial and put it away. Several more hand seals followed then he clapped his open palms together, fingers pointed up.

With a grin he sat down, small beads of sweat forming on his brow. "Wow, that one was tricky." Joram chuckled as he sat there watching Asuza sleep. It was quite something. She could be so hot headed at times, then so very nice. As she slept though, she looked at peace. Somewhat like she did when he had watched her die….

Joram shook his head to rid himself of that unpleasant thought. She wasn't going to die again like that, especially if he had something to say about it. He would train her as he was trained those many years ago by Jirin. On second thought, maybe he would give her a slightly heavier workload. She's a lot tougher than he was when he was that young…. Jimmy! Who was he kidding? She could probably snap his arm like a twig in an arm wrestle. Well, if he wasn't using his chakra to make himself stronger she could…. Pout.

"Well now that I'm more or less hidden I should take care of things here." Joram said as he stood up and had a look around at the ruined dojo. He heaved a great sigh. Why did things have to break so frequently around him? He then once again took notice of the large metal chunks of golem left behind as well as the tanuki statue in the middle of the room; and sighed. How in the nine hells was he going to get those out of here with Asuza being asleep?

Joram's eyes lit up as he had an epiphany. They could be used as decoration! What proceeded next is too weird to put to writing, so it will only be seen as its finished product.

Switch Scene

"He disappeared." Pluto stated flatly. It had to be flat otherwise she would have shrieked, and that was just plain undignified. The guardian of the Gates of Time didn't shriek. No, never that.

"How?" Was all Sailor Uranus asked. She looked as though she too wished to do something undignified.

Sailor Pluto didn't even respond as she had the scrying mirror in front of her rewind time a few minutes or so. She stopped it as it came to Joram taking the scroll out of that satchel of his. She watched intently as he read the scroll, then rewound the scene yet again, this time taking a vantage from over his shoulder.

"What is he reading?" Sailor Neptune asked; slightly puzzled at what she was seeing. It was in no language that she could recognize. As for the diagrams; they looked to be instructions on how to do those hand seals she had seen Rei use when performing her fire readings.

"I'm not sure. It's nothing I've come across in the past ten thousand years." Pluto admitted as she studied the scroll in question. What language was that!

Then as they watched Joram do the hand seals he slowly started to get blurry, almost as though one were looking at something out of focus. Then he disappeared altogether at the end. It was so frustrating it was maddening!

"Well whatever he has done to hide himself from the unknown party that has attacked him it seems to be just as effective against us." Tuxedo Kamen said from the side. All four of them glared at the frozen image of Joram in the time mirror.

Switch Scene

"Found him!" Ami said excitedly as she jogged along, trying to keep her communicator steady as she went.

"Great! Where is he?" Makoto's voice came from the communicator quite loudly. Ami winced slightly. Makoto had been somewhat... basket case like these past few days. Especially after the news cast from a few days ago; the one where the security cameras had shown Joram taking out several bank robbers, but had also shown one of the employees being shot in the end. The most disturbing thing though had been that Joram had killed one of the bank robbers.

The huge mystery had been the footage where he had… changed while laying on the ground after the police had arrived. No one could explain it. He had gone down looking like the Joram they had know, then had gotten up looking like someone else. Then there was the fact that he had escaped from prison. The details on that one had been somewhat… sketchy. The police refused to give out any info on the matter.

So Usagi had decided to use her transformation pen to come up with a disguise so she could investigate. To everyone's surprise Usagi had actually managed to get some relevant information from the place. She had even managed to get Joram's cell footage. That had been another mystery. How had he done it?

Then there had been the forensics lab. That had been a huge mess. Her Mercury computer would have definitely picked up a spike in magic had magic indeed been used. How someone could do so much damage to a place without magic was beyond her. It was just mind boggling.

Then there was the problem of the detective in charge of Joram's case. That man seemed to be a complete fanatic. Everyone Usagi had managed to question agreed that this case had sent the Investigator off the deep end. Insp. Fuji was now obsessed with catching Joram.

Ami sighed as she came to a brief stop to catch her breath. How any one person could cause so much chaos was also beyond her.

"Ami! Where is he!" Makoto's voice yelled through the communicator. That brought Ami crashing back to the present.

"The Amazon girl, Shampoo, said that he is staying with the Tendo family in the Nerima district." Ami blurted out. "He is staying in the dojo." That was all that she was willing to say. If she told her friend that he was staying in the dojo with a very pretty woman… well, Makoto would probably explode. Makoto had been worried almost sick since Joram had taken off a few days ago. With the news cast and the fact that the police were now after him, Ami was surprised her friend hadn't developed some grey hairs yet.

"Great. We'll meet at the Crown Arcade tomorrow after school and head to the Cat Café right after that so we can get directions from Shampoo to the Tendo residence. Minako out!"

Ami stood there for a moment contemplating the situation. What was going to happen tomorrow? She pictured many things in her head then, and what she pictured wasn't good. Especially if Makoto saw that Sakura girl with Joram. She sighed.

A sudden beeping snapped her out of her dark thoughts. It was the Mercury computer. With a slight frown she took it out to see what it had detected. The display showed a map of the Nerima district along with a very bright dot marking the source of the alert. After a moment of examining the readings she just sighed. That was Joram's energy signature. What on earth was he doing now? He was generating enough life force to attract any youma in Tokyo and its suburbs. Fortunately they hadn't seen any for the past few days…. She sighed.

Ami then pressed several buttons on her communicator to start a conference call with the other Inner Scouts. No need to let the Outers know where Joram was; they didn't need another scene like Rei's temple to unfold. The repairs still hadn't been done yet, and Rei was getting more and more angry by the day because Joram still hadn't come by to fix all the damages.

"Hey guys got some news for you…."

Switch Scene

"That should do it!" Joram proclaimed as he regarded his handiwork, a huge grin plastered on his face.

End of Chapter 10

A.N. – Whew! Finally done with this chapter. Had a bit of writers block there; couldn't decide what to do with the last few pages of the story. That, and had to make a few decisions on where to take the story. Ranma is very happy with the opportunity to go back to China to yet again try and find a cure.

Ranma and his mother. I never thought Nodoka would be as heartless as try and kill her son. That's my take on it anyway.

Yes; Joram does have a villain to fight now. I had been planning on if for some time now, I just take a while to do anything. Now, the Iron Golem is indeed a formidable opponent. Some people who might know a few things about Iron Golems might be questioning how Joram did what he did to his golem…. He isn't technically using magic. Enough said.

Not sure if it's been copy righted to anything like that, but if that name hasn't been used, I'll gladly take it! Mine!

Things will get a little bit crazier in Chapter 11, so bear with me when I release it. If anyone has a list of the Sailor Senshi's Transformation names and or attacks, I would greatly appreciate it if someone sent it along in a review!

Have comments? Questions? Send along a review. If it is only to complain or to "burn", don't bother; I won't listen to you anyway.

Other than that, thanx for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

He would have to act very carefully. He had seen what had happened to those extra-dimensional beings that have used stupid amounts of magic to try and take over this realm. All, without fail, had perished, been banished, or had their identities stripped away. He really didn't want that to happen to him.

Though if this new being didn't stop mimicking his golems he might have to do something about it himself. Those things were made sub standard! It was going to start giving him a bad name….

How to proceed then? Joram had quite handily taken care of the golems he had sent. Well that wasn't all true; another martial artist from that thrice accursed district had helped with one. What was he to do? Maybe something more subtle? Should he continue his manipulations of that fat martial artist? Or should he put more energy into pushing that time witch over the edge?

It wouldn't be hard; she already hated Joram almost as much as he did. Just a few nudges here, a push there, and voila! Just to be sure though maybe he should start pushing on those other three that seemed to be consorting with the time witch….

He had patience, he could wait. He had waited almost 25 years to have his vengeance; what were another few days? Or months even? He had time to plan (insert evil grin).

Switch Scene

'What have I done? How could I ever go back?' Were the thoughts going through a drunken Saotome Genma's brain as he sat on his large bottom on a bar stool in an unnamed bar.

He had been like this for the past couple of days, or at least that's what he thought. He hadn't been too sober since that horrendous display the other day. What had happened? How could he had stricken his precious Nodoka? If he remembered correctly he had even broken the family sword is his rage. Well, her family sword anyway.

But it all meant the same thing. To appease honour Nodoka would have to take his head. That thought made him turn a little green around the edges making the other guy at the bar beside him edge away slightly, not wanting to get puked on. It had already happened once.

But what had made him attack that new guy in the first place? He had seen Nodoka on the ground struggling for breath and then the new comer had stood up and cruelly stated that he had stricken Nodoka, and had even laughed about it. From there everything had gone somewhat… red.

He did remember an impressive technique being used against him, but none of the details. That, too, galled him. How he had been so angry that he hadn't had a chance to copy the new comers moves at all. What really baffled him was the fact that he remembered seeing over a dozen of his adversary, and all could hit him. But how was that possible? Curse that berserker rage that had taken him!

Genma took another long swig of sake from the bottle in front of him to try and drown his sorrows, but it didn't help. His sodden brain replayed the images he could remember from the fight over and over again. Then the final image of him, Saotome Genma, striking Nodoka. Why? Why had he done that?

Then an idea managed to worm its way through the sodden mess that was Genma's brain and make it self known. Nodoka had attacked him first! He was justified in defending himself against such a cowardly attack! There was no reason to regret having hit her; she would have killed him had she been able to hit him!

It was all Joram's fault! Everything that had happened to him these past couple of days were his fault, and he would find a way to make him pay! Especially for turning his own wife against him! Oh yes, he would pay…..

Not realizing it Genma had started to chuckle maniacally, his eyes taking on a dull reddish glow. Everyone in the bar gave him a little extra room.

Switch Scene

Saturday afternoon.

"Hello. Is Joram here?"

"Why yes, yes he is. Are you one of his friends?" Kasumi asked the young lady in front of her. She was really quite pretty, with her black hair tied back at the nape of her neck with a dark purple ribbon to accentuate the purplish highlights in her hair. The girl was wearing a school uniform that she didn't recognize, but that didn't bother her at all. People from all over Japan and even China came to visit after all. What was a school girl compared to emperors?

"Yes you could say that. We have a mutual friend that wishes us to get to know each other better." The girl said. For some reason she was blushing, not wanting to look Kasumi in the eye.

"No problem at all. If you would follow me, I'll show you where to wait while I find him." Kasumi said as she motioned for the girl to follow her into the yard, and then into the house.

"Hey sis. Who's this?" Nabiki said as she came downstairs for dinner.

"Ara. I'm sorry miss, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tendo Kasumi."

"It's my fault Tendo Kasumi. I should have introduced myself earlier. My name is Tomoe Hotaru. Pleased to meet you."

"That's nice. I'm Nabiki. What are you doing here?" She couldn't help but dig. She recognized the uniform she had on as coming from the Juuban district. She couldn't quite place which school yet, but that would come.

"I am here to see Joram." Hotaru said, trying very hard not to blush. She still couldn't believe Katreen had told her to start spending more time with her superior. It was… not right.

"Ahhhh….?" Nabiki ahhhh'd. This could prove interesting.

"What?" Hotaru asked, now feeling even more self conscious than usual.

"Oh, nothing. It just seems that he's really popular with the ladies is all." And with that said Nabiki headed into the living room trying very hard not to giggle. The look on Hotaru's face was priceless. How she wished she's had her camera on her.

"Now, now. Don't let Nabiki get to you. She's just plain mean sometimes." Akane said as she came from down the hall. "I'm Akane. Who're you?"

"Tomoe Hotaru; pleased to meet you." She once again introduced herself with a slight bow.

"She's looking for Joram." Kasumi added helpfully.

"Really? I was just heading to the dojo to do some light sparring, want' to come along?"

"I'm not really good with sports." Hotaru said, trying to avoid any physical exertion that might put a drain on her constitution.

"That's ok, you can watch." Akane added as she began to lead Hotaru through the living room and out into the yard.

"Umm?" Hotaru umm'd.

"What is it?" Akane asked as she led the way past Ranma-chan and Ryouga as they sparred.

"Why is that guy trying to beat up that girl?" The tremor in her voice gave away how nervous it made her feel. She had never before been privy to the oddities of the Nerima district. Those two looked as though they were going to kill each other.

"What?" Akane asked as she turned to see what Hotaru was talking about. She had become so used to the sight over the past year and a half that it no longer bothered her as it once did. "Oh, that's Ranma and Ryouga. They do that all the time." She commented as she once again began to lead Hotaru to the dojo.

"I see." No, no she didn't. But it seemed that it was something normal for this household, and why get more confused by asking more questions? If it was ok to have two martial artists trying to kill each other, she wouldn't say anything more on the subject. "What is that sound I hear?" Hotaru asked as they approached the odd looking dojo. Just outside the main entrance was a massive suit of European style armour. It looked quite intimidating.

"I would guess that that would be the sound of Joram and Mrs, ah, auntie Nodoka sparring." Akane explained as best she could. It was really hard to think of Ranma's mom as just "Nodoka"

"Ah. I was told that he excels in the art of kendo." Hotaru said excitedly. Finally, something she could understand! She really loved watching those old samurai movies and any other "Kung-Fu" type movie she could find. Hotaru shook her head. Normally she would have loved to just sit down and watch that red headed girl spar, but it was just too weird to watch her spar like she was going to kill that guy; or vice versa.

"To put it mildly; yes." Akane said as she slid the door to the dojo open. She once again shook her head when she saw the interior. Admittedly Joram HAD saved them lots of money in the form of repairs…. But this was just ridiculous.

At the end of the dojo, straight across from the entrance, was a… shrine? That was the only word she could come up with. A shrine. She could make a fairly good educated guess as to where he had acquired the metal from, but the crystal? Where had he gotten so much of it?

Said shrine consisted of a very clever clockwork sculpture. Actually, it was somewhat of a mystery as to how it worked exactly. As far as one could tell, it was a simulation of the solar and lunar cycles. The background was a blackened iron dome on its side with countless shards of crystal representing stars set into it so that it looked as though one were gazing into space. The Sun would rise on the horizon and travel across the "sky" back to the horizon to rest for the "night", then the moon would "rise" and do the same.

The Sun was made with what looked like amber. It was a stylized sort of sun, one with golden rays coming off it, somewhat like the petals of a sunflower. The Moon was made with some sort of silvery crystal that shone brilliantly. Joram said that the moon would take on the shape of the actual moon as it went through its cycle. The stars looked as though they were made of ordinary crystal, but each shone with an inner light that defied logic.

Joram had even gone as far as to make a skylight right over the shrine. There was a sort of cylindrical crystal column that came down from it and shone directly on the representation of the earth, being the main stage for the whole affair. It also added significant illumination to the interior of the dojo.

Akane had even gone so far as to go up on the roof to see the skylight and had found that the top of said skylight was actually a sphere about a foot and a half across. So it was no wonder that there was so much light provided.

The light also helped to illuminate the amber sun so that it seemed to blaze as it rose up and travelled its route across the small sky. She hadn't had a chance to see the thing at night, but she suspected that it would be just as spectacular. She didn't really believe Joram when he had told them that even the stars would follow their appropriate paths, but after seeing the whole thing in motion she was willing to believe him.

As for the rest of the dojo, well, it looked as though it had been grown from a tree. The only thing that really resembled their dojo of old was the general shape. If one could make a dozen or so trees grow into the shape of a building, that's what it looked like. The main beams that held the roof up looked like trees; they even had bark. Each of the "trees" branches were what supported the roof, or rather made up the ceiling. Beyond that it looked as though the old roof were still there. She hadn't really been able to tell when she was on the roof; the roofing tiles had proved to be an effective screen.

The floor was the only traditional thing that remained. For that she was glad. She didn't know how she would feel if she had had to practice on roots. Wait. If the walls were trees, then…. She shook her head to dispel that line of thought. She would NOT look under the floor tiles. No she wouldn't.

"Wow. I've never seen anything like this before. It's absolutely amazing." Hotaru said in awe as she took the whole place in. "You even have a cute tanuki statue over there!" She pointed at the tanuki Joram had placed against the long wall on the left. It was very noticeable since it was right in the middle. Akane sighed.

"Yes. That's a… souvenir that Joram has apparently taken a liking to." Akane said as she led the girl over to where Joram sparred with Nodoka.

"I wonder if I could get one like it." Hotaru mused to herself as she followed Akane further into the dojo.

"Akane? Why are there screens set up in that corner?" Hotaru asked as she pointed to the far right corner where several screens were set up.

"Oh, that's where Joram sleeps. Sakura and I share a room right now." Akane still couldn't believe that Joram had planned on sleeping in the same room as Sakura. It was just… indecent.

"Are you all right Akane-san?" Hotaru asked politely.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Akane replied quickly as she unclenched her fist. "Let's get you to Joram. I need to practice with Sakura a bit before dinner."

Joram and Nodoka had stopped sparring when Akane had paused to growl over Joram's proposed sleeping arrangement of the night before, and both approached the two young ladies.

"Yo!" Was all Joram said as he came to a stop in front of them. He was wearing a white tank top that was tucked into his lose fitting pants. He had a broad sash around his waist to hold his katana in place. Oddly enough he wasn't wearing any footwear. His hair was once again held up in a high pony tail. His diadem was still there, shining brightly in the light cast by the skylight crystal. For having just finished sparring, he looked incredibly… fresh.

Nodoka on the other hand looked as though she should be rung out with the laundry. Her hair was also tied back, but many a strand of stray hair had managed to escape and had plastered themselves against her cheeks and neck. Sweat still rolled down the side of her face. She was dressed in a kendoka's outfit and even had her chest wrapped in bandages like they did in the old days. With her sweat dampening her clothing there was very little left to the imagination as she used one side of her shirt to fan/cool off her chest.

"Hotaru-chan has come for a visit." Akane said as she looked around for Sakura.

"Is that so? What here has caught your interest?" Nodoka asked in mild curiosity as she sized up the girl in front of her.

"Um, well…." Hotaru started then had to clear her throat. She then looked directly at Joram. "Katreen-sama says we should spend more time together. To get to know each other better that is." She quickly added, not wanting to give anyone the wrong idea. Too late.

"Oh how nice!" Nodoka said with a big smile. "How long have you known each other?"

"Umm…. About a week or so." Joram said as he tried to remember exactly how long he had been in this crazy world, or rather: time.

"Just over a week." Hotaru corrected.

"Isn't that nice; already spending time together." Nodoka commented. Small stars formed in her eyes briefly, then she came back. "Who is Katreen?" She asked politely.

"A friend of the family." Joram said at the same time Hotaru replied with, "An old friend." Both looked at the other. Joram grinned one of his winning grins. Hotaru nearly fainted. Joram had to extend a hand to keep her from falling over.

"You ok?" He asked with a little bit of concern in his voice.

"I'll be all right. I'm just a little weak. I've had a poor constitution since I was little." Hotaru replied and gave a little grin of her own to try and put those gathered at ease. Joram didn't buy it, but kept his peace.

"Anyhow, would you like to watch us spar some more?" Joram asked as he motioned to the practice floor.

"That would be great!" Hotaru replied enthusiastically.

"All right, just sit over there and relax. We can talk after Nodoka and I finish." Joram then motioned for Nodoka to follow him to the center of the floor. There they both unsheathed their swords and faced off.

"Why are they using real swords? Shouldn't they be using kendo sticks or something?" Hotaru asked Akane as they both sat down to watch.

Akane hadn't managed to spot Sakura anywhere and that had annoyed her somewhat. Ranma still refused to actually hit her hard enough to do any real good. Sakura had at least been willing to hit back, but Akane could tell she was holding back. In retrospect though, it was a good thing. She really didn't want to be hit seriously be a person who could lift over five hundred pounds like it was nothing.

It was also fun to be able to teach Sakura a bit of fighting when Ranma and Joram weren't teaching her. There wasn't much Akane could do to teach her anything, but she could give Sakura some practice, and at the same time Akane could pick up on the moves that Sakura was learning from the two fighting juggernauts. It was tough going though. Akane hadn't been this happy in a very long time.

"Akane-san?" Hotaru prodded politely.

"Ah? What?" Akane was disoriented, but quickly regained her bearings. "Oh, that. Joram says that people learn a lot faster if there is some real danger involved. He also says that getting used to a real sword after having used a wooden one was pointless." Akane could see where he was coming from as he had explained it to them at the breakfast table that morning, but she was still nervous about the situation.

"I see." Hotaru once again said, but this time she really could. "This seems to be a very violent place to be." She commented as she remembered the two people outside trying to kill each other.

"Really?" Akane asked. Then had to pause a moment to think about it. "I guess it is, isn't it?" Akane asked ruefully, putting on an embarrassed smile as she scratched the back of her head with her right hand.

"But it also feels so… vibrant." Hotaru said enthusiastically. "I can feel so much life energy here it's amazing. It's… invigorating." Hotaru finished, then blushed slightly at her outburst.

"Don't worry. I know what you mean. Just being around all of them makes me feel as though I too can get as good as they are." Akane replied, though a bit quietly so that no one else could overhear.

"Yeah, that's what it is. I want to get better so that I can fight too." Hotaru said with a big smile. "Recently I've been able to walk to school without having to rest!" She declared proudly.

Akane sweat dropped. "How far away from school do you live?"

"It takes me a whole ten minutes to get there!" Hotaru said proudly.

Akane really didn't want to say anything for fear of bursting the girl's bubble. Unfortunately Ranma-chan had no such reserves as she came over to the pair, Ryouga trailing behind. He looked as though Ranma-chan had worked him over really well this time.

"Ten minutes? That's it? Man you must be weak!" Ranma-chan said as she regarded the other girl. Akane was saved from having to hit Ranma-chan by Sakura hitting her for her. All three spectators sweat dropped as Ranma-chan went through the floor.

"Ah, sorry! I'm still not used to being this strong." Sakura apologized as she sat down beside Hotaru. "Don't let Ranma bother you. He's got the charisma of a fruit fly at times." Hotaru giggled at that and Akane just nodded.

Through the whole exchange Joram and Nodoka hadn't paused a heart beat. Ryouga watched the two go at it and was impressed at the skill levels shown. With a sword he wouldn't want to have to face either of them. But without swords it was a different matter entirely. He was confident that if Joram tried anything funny with Akane he would be able to take him out easily.

"Geeze! What was that for?" Ranma-chan demanded as she removed herself from her hole.

"Be nice!" Sakura and Akane replied at the same time, both shaking a fist under Ranma-chan's nose. Ranma-chan got the point.

"Sorry." She said as she backed away, hands held up in a placating manner.

Suddenly there came a huge clang from where Joram and Nodoka sparred at the center of the dojo and every one looked over to see Nodoka staring at Joram in surprise. Joram had his sword resting over his shoulder. Nodoka's sword on the other hand was still quivering in one of the ceiling beams.

"That was a nice try, but you leave yourself open to being disarmed." Joram commented casually then jumped up and yanked out Nodoka's sword from the ceiling.

"Wow that was sure something." Hotaru said and began to clap in appreciation of the wonderful display so swordsmanship.

Joram grinned at her then turned back to Nodoka. "That should do for now. Rest up; we'll start again in another two hours." With that said he handed Nodoka back her sword and they both headed over to the group on the sidelines.

"Is it time to switch up already?" Joram asked as he and Nodoka came to a stop before the group of teenagers.

"That's why we came in." Ranma-chan said as she rubbed her head. Man! That Sakura could hit as hard as Ryouga.

"All right then. Sakura, you're with Ryouga. Ranma, you're with Akane. Hotaru, we can talk over there." Joram said as he pointed towards the sectioned off space at the back of the dojo.

"Why do you get to decide who goes together?" Ryouga asked peevishly, not wanting to lose this opportunity to be with Akane.

"Because if Akane and Sakura were to spar Akane might get hurt by accident. If you and Akane were to spar you would hold back too much. This way if you and Sakura fight, there is now worry of serious injuries." Joram concluded, nodding to himself in satisfaction.

"Ranma always holds back too much when we spar." Akane said, not looking at Ranma-chan.

"Why is that? Afraid to hit a girl?" Joram teased.

"It's just not right." Ranma-chan stated, folding her arms just below her breasts and putting on an air of… "I'm right".

"What's the matter with sparring as you are now?" Joram asked, not quite seeing the problem.

"'Cause I'm still a guy you idiot!" Ranma-chan shot back and stuck her tongue out at him. Joram merely raised an eyebrow.

"You're a cross dresser?" Hotaru asked in shock, then promptly fainted. Akane caught the poor girl before she fell on her face and leaned Hotaru against the wall and then rested her head on her shoulder.

"So if I change into a girl, would you have any problems fighting me?" Joram asked.

"No, 'cause I know you're really a guy." Ranma-chan said in her usual cocky manner. Joram just sighed.

"You know you're really messed up, don't you?" Joram asked in exasperation. "There's at least a dozen women back home that would kick you ass for spouting such nonsense. How have you managed to survive so long?" Again Joram couldn't keep the exasperation out of his voice.

"'Cause I'm the best!" Ranma-chan replied cockily.

"Right. You keep on believing that then. And as you keep on believing that you can also keep on coddling Akane and never let her get to be a decent fighter." Joram turned to Nodoka. "Would you mind sparring with Akane? I know you're tired, but your son doesn't seem to be up to the challenge."

Akane was dumbstruck. Never before had anyone given Ranma such a direct and scathing comment on his abilities and manhood at the same time. Sure his dad insulted him all the time by calling him a weak little girl as they fought, but that was expected from him. Others had insulted his masculinity, then his abilities or vice versa. But no one had ever insulted him by saying that his manhood was the cause of his weakness.

Nodoka also looked as though she were disappointed in her son. Ryouga could barely keep from laughing, but it was good that he did because Ranma-chan looked as though she would explode at any moment.

"Say that again." Ranma-chan said quietly, now at a slow boil.

"I said that you are weak. Wherever this notion came from that you are to never strike a girl, it is inaccurate. To strike a girl in a real fight is one thing, but to strike a defenceless girl is another. Do any of the women present look defenceless to you?" Joram demanded the little red-head in front of him.

Now Ranma was in a bind. He, well currently a she, really wanted to give a retort to that question, but a rare moment of wisdom stopped him from making a possibly fatal mistake. "No." She replied. The other three women there, the three conscious anyway, seemed to calm somewhat at the admission. This meant that they no longer looked as though they would do serious harm to Ranma-chan if she gave the wrong answer.

"Was that so hard to admit?" Joram asked the sulking red-head.

"No. But I still don't like the idea of hitting a girl." She said stubbornly, not willing to budge.

"I didn't say that you had to like it, I just said that you had to do it." Joram stated. "Do you think I like it? Do you think I enjoy hurting people? I don't. The reason why I do is to defend myself or those who cannot defend themselves. Among my many other skills I'm a medical specialist. I chose to be such for that reason. I don't enjoy seeing people suffer." Joram said with conviction. "But if people need to suffer a little to get better, to improve, so be it. I'll do what I can for them."

Ranma-chan stood there chewing her lower lip while looking at her feet. At length, when Akane was about to say something, Ranma-chan spoke.

"C'mon Akane, let's go." She said as she turned and left the dojo. Akane gave Joram an odd look then, but quickly followed after Ranma-chan.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on him?" Hotaru asked from where she sat on the bench, leaning against the wall.

"Yes." Joram said as he turned to her. "But he has to learn that sometimes you have to do something you don't want to. Even if it hurts." Hotaru was struck then by how old his eyes looked in that youthful face of his. From what Katreen had told her Joram had already lived over two hundred years. At that moment she was struck by how depthless his eyes seemed. There were times when Setsuna had that look in her eyes, but not quite as profound. That made her shiver a little. What had he gone through in his life to make his eyes look like that?

Switch Scene

Ryouga stayed quiet throughout the conversation. He was like Ranma; he just couldn't bring himself to hit a girl. Even after the things Joram had said he wasn't sure if he could, even if he needed to. That was a subject for long meditation.

He looked over as Sakura elbowed him in the kidney. She motioned with her head to follow her outside. With a shrug he did so. The lost boy idly wondered what she wanted to talk about as he carefully followed her outside. He really didn't want to get lost at that moment.

"So, we gonna spar or what?" Sakura asked the Lost Boy as she took up a beginner stance.

"Ah, yeah, sure." Ryouga replied absently as he too took up a fighting stance, though his was much more casual looking. It still seemed wrong to him to hit a-.

His line of thought was knocked clear out of his head as Sakura's foot took him up side the head and send him flying a few feet. Ryouga idly wondered where that truck had come from.

"Pay attention!" Sakura chided him from where she stood. That was enough for the Lost Boy.

Switch Scene

"So why exactly did Katreen tell you to come over?" Joram asked Hotaru as they sat behind the screens at the back of the dojo. Joram used a little electric stove to head a kettle for tea. He had learned that the people of this culture really liked to drink tea as they conversed with each other.

"Well, she thought it would be good for relations with the Outer Senshi." Hotaru said from where she sat on the floor. It really made her nervous to be sitting this close to such an attractive guy. She hadn't really taken the time to check him out that first night they'd met, being somewhat preoccupied with other matters.

"The green haired one and the blonde?" Joram asked as he set out a couple of cups for them. Hotaru gave him a weird look that took him a moment to process. "Your adoptive parents?"

"Yes them. But I was more wondering how you mange to get so much into that little bag?" She even poked it a bit with her finger.

"Oh, that's just a bag of holding. It can hold tonnes of cool stuff!" Joram exclaimed happily. He then proved it by reaching into the bag up to his elbow and pulling out a four foot scroll that had to be a good foot around.

"Wow! Where can I get one?" Hotaru asked excitedly. She remembered a movie that she and her father used to watch about a nanny with a bag that could do the same thing.

"Um…. Couldn't say." Joram replied honestly. "I used to know this sage that could, amongst other things, make them. He made this one especially for me. Said I'd go through a normal one way too fast."

Hotaru looked crestfallen. She'd really wanted to have one. "Oh, ok." Was all she said.

Joram shifted uneasily. Why did she have to pout like that? "Well, when I go on my next adventure I'll see if I can find you one. How does that sound?" Joram really hoped that there were still some bags of holding around.

"That sounds great!" Hotaru exclaimed and just about fell over. Joram sweat dropped.

"So about your adoptive parents; are they still angry?" Joram asked to try and change the subject. That, and he wanted to know more about a potential threat.

"Yes. Especially Haruka-papa. She really doesn't like you. Michiru-mama tries to keep her calmed down, but it doesn't work too well." She really didn't like the fact that her parents still wanted to get back at Joram, especially Setsuna and Mamoru.

"Hmmm." Joram hmmm'd. How was he going to deal with this situation? "Well, there's nothing I can do about it for now." Joram said with his usual cheer. "How about I take a look at you to see what's wrong with you?" Joram asked as he poured the near boiling water into a tea pot.

"I don't know how much you could do. I mean, when my father was alive he had the best doctors in the country examine me and none of them could tell what was wrong with me." Hotaru said as she took a cookie off the small platter Joram had prepared and began to munch.

"Didn't I say I was a medical specialist? I am much better than your average mundane doctor." Joram said, practically oozing confidence.

"Well, I guess so. You are Katreen's avatar after all." Hotaru said as she finished her cookie.

"Wow, haven't heard that word in decades." Joram said as he reminisced. The sage had been the last one to have called him that. He found that he missed the old guy then. He had been someone he could talk to, really talk to. Joram poured the tea and served it was he thought about the first time he had met the sage.

It had been on a mission for his village. The sage had been the one to hire his squad to retrieve an artefact that some thieves had stolen from the temple in which he resided. After returning the artefact the sage had given each of them a magical item as a token of his thanks, and that had been beside what he had already paid the village. After that Joram had kept in touch with him over the years, even after he had left the village to continue his training.

"Anyway," Joram said as he sipped at his tea. "would you like the exam right away, or later this evening?"

"We could do it now if you wish." Hotaru said as she put her cup down.

"Ok then. I'll need to touch a few pressure points on your chest as I do the exam. Will that bother you?" Joram asked this time before actually doing it. He really didn't want a repeat of the other day.

"Um… I'll be fine." Hotaru said with a bit of apprehension in her voice but began to unbutton her blouse for the exam.

"Oh, no no no no." Joram said as he stopped her from unbuttoning her blouse. "This doesn't require you to take that off."

"Really? All the other doctors had me take off my shirt during exams." Hotaru stated in mild confusion.

"What kind of barbarians would ask such a thing for just an exam?" Joram asked in consternation. What had happened to medicine while he was gone?

"Oh, they use instruments to check on breathing and blood pressure…." Hotaru trailed off as she watched Joram fume, then begin to monologue about how inaccurate that could be and how the physicians of this day and age had no talent what so ever. 'I guess that was one of the areas where the people of his time excelled beyond ours.' Hotaru thought to herself as Joram's monologue seemed to be winding down.

"Anyway, just keep your shirt on. This will only take a few minutes to do." Joram said as he shifted to sit directly in front of Hotaru. Hotaru sat as straight as she could.

"Now close your eyes and think of something peaceful." Joram said as he placed his left hand on her forehead and the tips of his fingers of his right hand on the needed pressure points. He was glad that she only shifted a little and didn't hit him. Things would go so much more smoothly.

Switch Scene

"Ara, more guests to see Joram?" Kasumi asked the group of girls in front of her. Joram sure was popular today. So she motioned the group of five high school students to follow her. This time she didn't bother taking them inside and instead just took them out back to the dojo.

Kasumi was really glad that Ranma seemed to be taking his duties to train Akane seriously now. She didn't know what had brought it on but she was glad none the less. Perhaps they would start getting along better now that they had something else to spend time on.

And so Kasumi hummed nicely as she took the five girls to the dojo.

Switch Scene

"So this is where he is staying?" Minako asked Ami as they stood at the front gates waiting for someone to answer.

"Yes. Not only is this the address that Shampoo gave us, but it is also where I got those readings on Joram." Ami said simply as she studied the place. Nerima was notorious for the number of martial artists it had, and having had a good look around on their way here she could understand why there were so many martial artists around. There seemed to be a dojo of one sort or another on every block. What she found really odd though were all the signs on the walls asking passers-by to refrain from breaking the walls.

"I just hope he's ready to start fixing what he promised at the temple." Rei grumped to no one in particular. Even though she looked slightly peeved she had to admit that it would be good to see Joram again.

"I wonder if he'll take us out for ice cream again?" Usagi asked no on in particular as she began to day dream about all the ice cream she was going to eat.

Ami just sighed. She was saved the trouble of answering by the front gate opening up. To her surprise a young woman, well she was older than they were by a few years, greeted them. For some reason she expected someone wearing a gi to answer, not someone wearing an apron.

"Hello, may I help you?" The lady asked pleasantly as she smiled at them all.

"Yes, we're here to see Joram. Is he in?" Ami took the roll as the group leader this time, mainly because Usagi was still daydreaming about ice cream.

"Ara, more guests to see Joram?" The lady asked. Though it seemed that it was more to herself because she motioned for them to follow.

Ami gave the others a questioning glance when she heard that they weren't Joram's first visitors today. Makoto and Minako just shrugged. Rei raised an eyebrow, but nothing more.

So it was that they followed the eldest Tendo daughter into the yard and around the house. The five girls were stunned, to say the least, when they caught their first display of advanced martial arts. Two girls were fighting; one had red hair, the other blue. The one with red hair was jumping around and dodging the blows directed at her by the one with blue hair, occasionally hitting blue hair hard enough to knock her back on her heels.

Makoto watched with the critical eye of a martial artist and was surprised. It looked as though either of them could beat her in a fight. Especially the red-head. She didn't like to admit it, but she also didn't like to lie to herself. She also found that she really wanted to have a go with either of the fighters. It had been too long since she'd really had a good sparring session. Then she remembered that Joram had said that he'd teach her.

Makoto was brought back to the world around her by a terrific crashing sound. She looked over to see a person in green pants sticking out of a hole in the ground, his foot slightly twitching.

"Honestly Ryouga-kun, you shouldn't be holding back." Said a girl with silvery hair. She had to blink twice. The girl had silvery hair, but only looked to be a few years older than her! Makoto made a small warding gesture in hopes of her hair not going grey prematurely.

"That's gotta hurt." Minako commented as they passed.

"You can say that again." Rei said in mild shock. Were all martial artists crazy?

"That's gotta hurt." The blonde repeated as she shook her head. Everyone else ignored her.

"Wow! Where did you guys get that cool suit of armour?" Usagi asked their guide as she snapped out of her daydream.

"Oh, I think that Joram was the one that put it there." Kasumi said as she slid the door to the dojo open.

"Wow. I'll have to ask him where he got something so cool!" Usagi said as she inspected it close up.

Ami started when she heard the Mercury computer give a few beeps. Looking around to see if anyone else was looking she took out the mini super computer and opened it up to have a look. First was the suit of armour that Usagi was inspecting; it was giving off slight amounts of magic. Then there was the bright glowey dot that marked a corner in the dojo. That was Joram, but what was he doing?

"Usagi, I'd leave that alone if I were you." Ami admonished her klutzy leader.

"Why?" Was all she asked as she stood there poking the suit here and there.

"It's magical." Ami replied as she followed everyone else into the dojo. Usagi gave a cute squeak and rushed in behind Ami. Ami couldn't help but smile.

"Ara. I guess he's still speaking with that other young lady." Kasumi said as she noticed the lack of Joram.

"And where would they be speaking." Makoto asked in a slightly strained tone of voice. Kasumi being Kasumi didn't show any signs of having heard the strain in Makoto's voice and just pointed to the sectioned off portion of the dojo.

Which brought all of their attention to the magical clockwork solar system like shrine at the far end of the dojo, directly across from them. Usagi gasped in shocked glee and ran over to it to inspect it up close, followed closely by Minako. Rei followed along to make sure Usagi didn't break it. Ami went along to see how it all worked.

"Where did you get such a magnificent thing?" Minako asked in awe. She had never seen anything like it before. It shone with a radiance that couldn't readily be explained.

"I believe Joram made it last night." Kasumi said as she made her way back to the entrance of the dojo. "If you would excuse me, I'll get some refreshments for everyone." Kasumi said as she excused herself from their presence.

"Have you ever seen anything like it Rei!" Usagi asked as she all but bubbled from excitement. For once she was showing some self control by not actually touching the mechanical marvel in front of her.

"No, no I haven't." Rei said as she gazed at the wonder in front of her. She could even see Mars in the mass of stars. It was amazing.

"Most intriguing." Ami said as she scanned the display with her Mercury computer. She was amazed to see that most of the display was indeed mechanical. The only magical thing about it was the stars and how they and the moon would keep in phase with the actual stars and moon in the sky. The glowing was all due to clever refraction of the sunlight that was directed down on the front of the display. "Simply amazing." She said as she finished her scans and turned to face the others with a huge grin on her face. She was going to have to see Joram's schematics for the thing! And while she was at it, find out how they had found so many trees of the same size to make such an interesting dojo.

Makoto was suitably impressed by the display but she had more important things on her mind; like seeing Joram. She left the others to do their own thing and went over to the sectioned off part of the dojo. So focussed was she that she hardly even took note of the unusual architecture of the dojo itself as she took hold of the panel that would slide aside to allow her entry.

Switch Scene

Joram opened his eyes and regarded the girl in front of him. How she could even be alive was almost beyond him. The only reason that he could find that was alive was that she had such a strong connection to Katreen.

It seemed that her spirit wasn't… properly attached to her body. That was the only was he could describe it. There seemed to be something that had interfered with her birth and as a result had… misaligned her soul and body. It also seemed as though her spirit were, too big for her body.

Joram removed his hands and pondered the problem at hand. How to fix it? He had never seen anything like this before. He just might have to consult with Katreen on this one. He really didn't like bothering her, but this was something way out of his experience.

"So, what did you find?" Hotaru asked, getting a bit worried by Joram's unusually prolonged serious expression.

"Ah, well it seems that your beautiful spirit is too much for your poor little body." Joram said, trying not to worry the poor girl in front of him.

Hotaru blushed slightly at the compliment. "But what does that mean?" She persisted.

"It just means that I'll have to fix that minor problem is all little sister." Joram said as he patted her on the shoulder. After saying that is seemed as though it were true. It was the oddest feeling, but she really did feel like his little sister. He had no way of even explaining it, never having had a little sister before, but it seemed right.

"Joram? Are you in here?" Joram gave a start as Makoto slid the screen aside and took a look at them. "Am I interrupting anything?" She asked in a completely neutral tone of voice.

Hotaru scooted back from Joram, looking slightly embarrassed. Joram just stood up and motioned for her to come in. Makoto gave him an odd look but came in anyway.

"You can sit over here." Joram motioned to the place right beside Hotaru. Makoto gave a slight nod of her head and sat down beside Saturn.

Joram looked around the side of the screen and saw the other four girls. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Usagi was there too. She had an infectious, bubbly, kind of personality that was refreshing to be around.

"Hey guys, come on over." Joram called to them. Usagi jumped a foot in the air, while the other three headed over at varying paces. Ami appeared to be completely absorbed by what she was looking at in her hand while the other meandered over, now having seen the rest of the dojo.

"Wow, this is sure a nice place." Rei commented as she arrived, then said: "And what about my temple? You said you'd fix it almost a week ago!" She punctuated her point by giving him a shot to the arm, but only really succeeded in hurting her hand slightly.

Joram winced more at the accusation than the actual punch. "I'll get to it tomorrow, I promise." Joram said sincerely as he motioned for them all to enter his little living space. Once they were all inside Joram realized that he'd need more teas and treats. He was pleasantly surprised at seeing Kasumi enter the dojo with a large tray leaden with a large tea pot, cups, and an array of cookies.

"Kasumi, you're the best!" Joram exclaimed as he took the tray from the eldest Tendo daughter, who in turn blushed slightly at the compliment.

"It's no trouble at all." She said politely as she bowed and took her leave. Joram grinned as he thought of how lucky the guy would be who managed to win her heart. Joram then turned and re-entered his small living quarters with the tray in hand.

Joram knelt down and began to poor the tea. "So, what brings you all here?"

Ami once again took the roll of leader since Usagi was too preoccupied with drooling over the array of cookies in front of her. "We wanted to come by and see how you were doing."

"That's nice of you to do." Joram commented as he finished pouring the tea. "Here you go Hime-sama." Joram said as he served Usagi first.

She blushed and stammered somewhat at that. "What makes you think I'm a princess?" She asked, trying very hard to act casual.

"Just had a dream is all." Joram said mysteriously. All save one person gave him a weird look, that one person being Hotaru.

"She told you?"

"Yuppers!" Joram replied cordially. Hotaru could only shake her head.

"Who told you?" Usagi asked Joram suspiciously while eyeing all those present.

"Would you like to tell them little sister?" Joram asked Hotaru as he served her next, then Ami, Minako, Rei, then finally Makoto.

"Why did he call you little sister?" Ami asked, now quite intrigued. Joram was full of surprises.

"Well, ah, you see…." Hotaru began but began to falter as all those present turned to regard her. "You see, he and I are somewhat… connected to the goddess of Death and Life. As such we have the privilege of speaking with her from time to time."

"Wait, wait, wait…. Are you telling us that Joram is connected to the same goddess that provides you with most of your powers?" Ami asked in shock.

"Um, yeah." Hotaru replied while fidgeting with her cup of tea.

"And why is he calling you his little sister?" Minako asked trying very hard to understand what was going on.

"That one I'm not too clear on. But I could venture a guess." Hotaru offered.

"By all means." Makoto prompted.

"I would guess that he calls me that because I would technically be his subordinate." Hotaru rushed it out. It was a lot harder to tell her princess this than it had been to tell the Outers.

"How is that possible?" Rei asked in shock. "How can anyone have a higher rank than us? We're the princesses of our respective planets!"

Joram continued to sip at his tea and to nibble at a cookie. 'Man these things are good!' Joram thought to himself as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"Well, you could call me Katreen's messenger." Hotaru said much to the Rei's consternation. "You could say that Joram is Katreen's avatar." Four sets of eyes blinked at this statement while only one jaw dropped.

"You can't be serious!" Ami exclaimed in shock. If what she said was true; Joram was more dangerous than Sailor Saturn.

"Don't worry about it though." Joram said to those gathered, though he was looking at Ami when he said it. "I was told to help you all in any way that I could; within reason." Joram amended. He didn't want to give them the wrong idea after all. "But I do have other things to take care of while I'm here. For one, I have to re-forge a sword. I'll be starting that on Monday."

"So, ah, was that why you didn't die when you were, ah, injured?" Usagi asked looking very frightened as she held her cookie in both hands and nibbled on it.

"No, I think that I technically died there." Joram said casually then took another sip of tea as Usagi turned white and shrank back a bit. "But that is one of things that happen to a person when they become the Avatar of Death and Life. Death is no longer… as lasting as it once was." Joram finished then took another sip of the tea. They had some nice tea here, but nothing like back home. Maybe he could send a clone off to gather some herbs while he was busy at the temple tomorrow?

"So what about all the other things you can do? Are they divine powers too?" Rei asked, now a little bit more interested in Joram's story. She was a priestess after all.

"Most of what I can do I do on my own." Joram replied as he regarded the Miko. "That took a good two hundred years of training too I might add. You might be able to do something other than a fire reading if you practice enough." Joram said, trying to pique the miko's interest.

"So you aren't a zombie?" Usagi interrupted in a quavering voice. Joram sighed.

"No, I'm not a zombie. If I had indeed been a zombie Rei's wards would have paralyzed me." Joram said in as soothing a tone as he could muster.

"I'm sooo glad that you're not some sort of undead monster out to eat our brains!" Usagi wailed as she dove into Joram to give him a bear hug. Joram was suitably impressed at the sheep power the girl had to hold onto him with. Then again he couldn't help but sigh. This princess really needed to ground herself; otherwise she's just keep on floating away to whatever place it was that gave her ideas like that.

"So what else do you think I might be able to learn?" Rei asked as casually as she could, not wanting to give away how interested she was in learning how to control her ki better.

"Well, you know some warding techniques, and some fire reading…. You've also got the fire power," Joram grins at his own pun while everyone else sweat drops, "down pat while you're a Senshi…. How about I teach you a binding technique?" Joram asks as he begins to root through his shoulder satchel to find the necessary scrolls. Usagi finally let go and went back to her seat to consume more of the tasty cookies.

"Sounds good." Rei said, once again trying to act all casual like. In reality, though, she was about ready to burst from excitement. She hadn't learned a new ki technique in years!

"Here's the first scroll." Joram said as he handed it over to Rei. Rei took it and opened it anxiously. After a moment of looking at it she gave Joram a bland look.

"It's not in Japanese."

"Ah." Was all Joram could think to say. He had forgotten that minor detail. "Well. Let me see…. I know! I'll give you what you need tomorrow when I drop by the temple to do the repairs." Joram suggested.

"Sure." Rei replied, somewhat confused. She rolled the scroll up and placed it in her school bag. If Joram thought something could help her with a foreign language, well, who was she to argue?

"What can you teach me?" Makoto asked expectantly. If Rei got to learn something cool, she wanted to learn something too!

"Hmmm." Joram hmmm'd as he regarded her for a moment. He then looked at each one in turn. At length he nodded to himself as though he had decided something. "Basic combat training for all of you!" He said cheerily.

Usagi looked horrified at the thought of extra work; Minako started to picture how the extra time spent with Joram would go; Ami seemed thoughtful; Rei looked enthusiastic; and Makoto looked somewhat dejected. She'd already attained a black belt, why should she have to go through basic training with everyone?

"Umm…. Me too?" Hotaru asked, not looking particularly at ease with the thought of strenuous exercise.

"Don't worry little sister; I'll take care of what we spoke of before you start your training." Joram told Hotaru to reassure her as he gave her a thumbs up. It really seemed to brighten the young lady up for she gave a quick nod of the head and beamed a brilliant smile at him with tears in her eyes. Joram couldn't help but smile back.

Switch Scene

"Michiru? Have you seen Hotaru around? Dinner is just about ready." Haruka yelled from the kitchen. She really wanted to do something to make it up to Hotaru for yelling at her the other day. She wasn't particularly good in the kitchen, but it was the thought that counted, né?

"She said that there was a boy she needed to visit with this evening." Michiru said as she came into the kitchen, book in hand.

"What!" Haruka yelled in shock. "Why does she need to see a boy!"

"Well, she is getting to be that age…." Michiru mused as she brought her hand up to her cheek. "Could it be that this is her first boyfriend?" Michiru asked as she got little stars in her eyes.

Haruka just about snapped the wooden spoon she was holding before she came to herself. "Our little Hotaru with a boy? Outrageous! He's probably planning to do some of this…." Insert scene with Hotaru holding the hand of a faceless guy. "Or some of that!" Insert another scene with Hotaru kissing a faceless guy. Steam could now be seen coming off Haruka's head.

"I'm sure it's not like that yet." Michiru said to try and calm Haruka down a bit. "I'm sure that they are just good friends. No need to worry over inappropriate things."

"Inappropriate things!" Insert an inappropriate scene with Hotaru and the faceless guy. "I'm following her the next time she heads out!"

"Now, now. Don't worry about it. She's a very responsible young lady. She can decide these things on her own." Michiru chided, closing her eyes like she always did when she had to reprimand someone. "How would she feel if she found you stalking her when she's on a date?" Michiru opened her eyes to gauge Haruka's reaction but just about face faulted when she realized that Haruka had already run off.

She sighed. Nothing else to do now but to make sure that the food didn't burn. What was she cooking anyway…?

Switch Scene

Akane was happier than she had been in quite some time! She blocked a punch to the head, but missed the lick to her kidney. That sent her flying a few feet, but she recovered enough to go into a low roll.

As she got up she marvelled at the change in Ranma's countenance. No more was Ranma just playing with her; he was actually sparring. His face, well hers at the moment, showed nothing but determination.

Akane grinned as she panted for breath. She was going all out and Ranma seemed to be respecting that and so fought accordingly. She could feel her heart swell as she contemplated how much Ranma must respect her to be doing this for her; someone he loved.

"C'mon Akane, I didn't hit you that hard." Ranma said as he, she, noticed a few tears coming to Akane's eyes.

"Baka." Akane whispered to herself as she once again took the offensive. Ranma just shook her head and prepared to fight.

Switch Scene

"So we'll meet tomorrow at the temple to decide where to practice, ok?" Joram said as he stopped at the front gate with the six girls.

"Do you mind if we keep the carpet for a little while longer? It's so very convenient to have. We don't have to worry about missing buses or traffic. It's great!" Usagi pleaded.

Joram sighed. How did she produce so much energy on the fly? "That won't be a problem just so long as no one sees you flying around."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Usagi squealed as she gave him yet another bear hug. This time she detached before he had to do it for her.

Joram reached into his shoulder satchel and took something out as he motioned for Hotaru to come closer. "Here, wear this tonight. It will help your spirit… focus."

"Focus?" Hotaru asked, not quite understanding what he was talking about. She reached out and accepted what Joram placed in her hand. It was a simple nine sided, clear, crystal with a cotton cord attached so that it could be word as a necklace.

"Yes, it'll help me make you feel better." Joram said with a smile. Hotaru returned the smile and quickly put the necklace on.

"I'll see you all tomorrow, ok?" Joram waved to the group as they mounted the flying carpet. Hotaru looked a little bit nervous, but went along with it anyway. The six girls waved as they flew off. Joram waved back until they were lost to sight.

"So, who were they?" Asuza asked from beside him. From her tone, he guessed she wasn't too happy for some reason.

"Oh, them? They're just some friends I met the first day I arrived." Joram replied simply.

"You seem pretty popular with the girls." Asuza pressed.

"It's just because I haven't really met any guys to hang out with." Again, another simple response from Joram.

Asuza couldn't argue with the simple logic of what he said, but it still irked her somewhat that he had so many other girls wanting to spend time with him. "You said that you'll be meeting them at a temple tomorrow? What for?"

"To repair some property damage…." Joram trailed off as he remembered the encounter. It had been quite a brutal fight that had left the Outers very angry with him. He sighed. Why did things like this have to happen to him?

"I'll come along then. I could use some more physical work." Asuza said as she flexed her bicep to show him how tiny it was. Joram just chuckled.

"Sure, you really need to get stronger all right." Joram ducked a swing at his head. "It will be a good learning opportunity for you. You can teach the girls what you have learned while I do the repairs." Well, two kinds of repairs anyway.

"Why do I have to teach them?" Asuza asked, well complained really.

"Because the more you go over what you have learned the better you will become." Joram explained using the teaching voice he had used when he was teaching the gennin in Konoha.

"Right, you just want to slack off." Asuza muttered to herself as she regarded Joram. What was she going to do with him? Would she lose him to someone else? Asuza shook her head to dispel the uncomfortable thought. He was all she had now.

"You know it!" Joram replied with a wink. Just then Kasumi called them in for dinner. "Sweet! I'm starving. C'mon Asuza, let's eat!" Joram said as he took her hand and hauled her along. Because she was behind him he missed her happy smile.

Switch Scene

"Welcome home Hotaru. How was your evening?" Michiru asked from her favourite chair in the living room. It was the only thing that seemed to be out of place in the new looking home, for it was an old, stuffed, leather chair large enough to fit two of her inside.

"It was great!" She replied as she took her shoes off.

"Really? That's wonderful. What did you do?" Michiru asked as she put the bookmark back in the book she was reading and watched as Hotaru came around the corner to sit on the sofa next to Michiru's chair.

"Oh, we sat around and talked over tea and cookies." Hotaru said as she remembered how her adoptive parents didn't get along with Joram. She was then distracted by Haruka-papa walking by. "Ah, Michiru-mama? Why is Haruka-papa dressed like that?"

Michiru looked over to she her lover dressed in full army camouflage gear with a large military issue back pack. "Oh, she's just obsessing." Michiru said and heaved a sigh. What was she going to do with her?

"What is she obsessing over?" Hotaru asked hesitantly, not really sure is she wanted to know.

"She thought that you had gone out to meet a boyfriend." Michiru said casually, but kept a sharp eye on Hotaru to gauge her reaction.

"A boyfriend? Me?" Hotaru asked in disbelief. "All the guys at my school think I'm some sort of freak!"

"So he's not from your school?" Michiru prodded; a mischievous glint in her eye.

"No, of course not. He's too old to be in high school anyway." Hotaru replied before really thinking. At the look Michiru-mama was giving her she blushed fiercely. "It's not like that!"

"Ahhhh…? Really?" Michiru said as she continued to smile. My had Hotaru grown up fast.

"I said it's not like that!" Hotaru was practically pleading now; her face about ready to burn off it was so red. "He's more like a sempai, or an older brother."

"Now that's disappointing." Michiru mumbled to herself. She'd really been hoping her daughter had finally found a guy to be with. "So, what does he do for a living?" Michiru asked in mild interest.

"He's, a, uh…." Hotaru racked her brain for something. "He's a physician." She said decisively.

"Oh, that's a good job to have. Does he work at a hospital, or does he have his own clinic?" Michiru asked, now getting more interested. If he was well off, maybe there would be some hope for hooking Hotaru up with him.

"Well, he's just moved to town, so he hasn't quite set up his own clinic yet. But I'm sure he's planning to have one set up very soon!" Hotaru felt a little bad for making that last part up, but she really didn't want her adoptive parents snooping into it too much. Who knew what would happen?

"Ah, well there is still some food in the kitchen if you're hungry. Haruka made it especially for you." Michiru said to change the subject. She could tell the subject was embarrassing for her daughter, and she really didn't want to be one of those pushy mothers you heard about.

"Haruka-papa cooked tonight?" Hotaru asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Yes. You can just re-heat it if you'd like. But if there isn't enough for you there are still some leftovers in the fridge from last night too." Michiru added, not wanting to subject her daughter to Haruka's cooking. Her constitution was so weak that she might get hospitalized. She wasn't a cruel person after all.

Switch Scene

"Here you go everyone!" Akane said as she entered the dining room with a large, bubbling, pot. "Dinner is served!" She was so happy from the days' activities that she had decided to help Kasumi in the kitchen that night.

Joram looked around at everyone. Ranma's eyebrow was twitching as he gazed at the mysterious contents of the pot. Mr Tendo was already looking at some sort of brochure with pictures of food on it, and Nabiki was holding, what he'd learned was, the phone. Asuza was looking a little green.

Joram then turned his attention to the pot in question. Never before had he seen the like. There were bits and pieces of the Light knows what floating up to the top then sinking back down into the greenish-brown stew like substance. It smelled like, well, nothing he had had the misfortune of smelling before. He turned as Kasumi came in with the rice cooker (another new item he'd learned about in the past day) and smiled. At least there would be something edible to eat. His hopes were dashed as Akane began to scoop out rice into large bowls and poured the "stew" like substance into each bowl.

Joram then came up with his most brilliant idea to date! "Allow me to bless the food before we eat." He said. Everyone gave him a funny look, but complied.

Insert spell: "Purify Food & Drink".

Once done Joram took the larges bowl and dug in, much to the amazement of all present. After a minute or so of waiting Ranma hesitantly took a bow and tried some too.

"Wow, this is pretty good!" Ranma exclaimed, much to everyone's astonishment. Never before had he said that without passing out a few seconds after eating Akane's "cooking". Akane was so pleased that she even took a bow for herself and tried some.

"Wow! I've improved!" She declared happily and continued to eat. By this time everyone else's curiosity was piqued. None of them were passing out, dieing, or changing colour. Father looked to his middle daughter and shrugged. They both took bowls and gave it a try. Both wore shock on their faces that was evident to anyone who wasn't blind. Mr Tendo began to cry.

"It's goooooooood!" He exclaimed in delight and began to consume more.

Nabiki was pleasantly surprise to say the least. She even urged Asuza, or rather Sakura, to try some. After a few more bites to convince the girl Asuza gave in and tried it. She too was astonished. How had something so toxic looking become edible?

Halfway through the meal Joram leaned over to Nabiki and handed her a sizable leather pouch that clanked metallically. "For the love of any gods that remain in this realm, please hire someone to teach her how to cook!"

Nabiki gave him a weird look as she hefted the purse. "Why? It seems her cooking really has gotten better."

"Are you that naïve?" Joram whispered to her. "The only reason why we are still alive is because of the purification spell I cast on the food."

"Ah, that would explain it." Nabiki said as she snapped her fingers. "I'll see what I can do." She promised as she once again began to eat. No reason to waist the food now that is was edible.

Switch Scene

"At least we know one really good thing." Ami said as she and Makoto were flying to her house after having dropped off the other four girls in the team.

"Yeah, what's that?" Makoto asked distractedly as she concentrated on making the magical carpet do exactly what she wanted.

"We know that Hotaru isn't interested in him that way." Ami said with a glint in her eye, or rather across her glasses.

"Why do you say that?" Makoto asked once she'd managed to get the carpet to go in a straight line again. What Ami had said had struck too close to home and it had distracted her a little too much from the task at hand.

"Just the was she is around him is all." Ami replied simply. "You know how she acted the last time she had a crush on someone." Both remembered the several dozen times one of them had had to carry Hotaru home after having fainted when she'd gotten too close to said guy.

"You do have a point." Makoto mused for a moment before she was once again brought back to the pesky task of flying the carpet. "So why do you bring it up?" Makoto asked casually, not wanting to give away how interested she was in Joram. No success.

"Oh please. It is as obvious as the moon in the sky that you have a huge crush on him." Ami said sarcasm heavy in her voice. "I don't blame you though, he is quite a man." She said with a slight blush.

It was fortunate for Ami that Makoto's attention was not on her. If Makoto had seen the blush she might have yet again been distracted and crashed into the side of a building. As it was she nearly hit a light pole.

"Ami!"

"What? Am I not allowed to check out guys too?" Ami asked in mock scorn.

"No, it's just weird is all. It's almost like my mother saying someone is cute." Makoto replied honestly and was poked in the ribs for her trouble.

"Hey!"

"Please don't compare me to an old woman." Ami told her very politely. "I just don't go crazy over every pretty boy that comes along like the rest of you. I have more refined tastes." She said, a little bit of "snooty" in her tone.

"Right. And that's why you were the first one to volunteer to cut his shirt off that first night, né?" Makoto said as she began to poke Ami.

"I was merely concerned for his health. I am the only one among us that has her emergency first aid you know." Ami responded with a sniff, but couldn't quite hide her blush.

"Ah-ha! I knew it!" Makoto said as she turned to face Ami. "You like him too!"

"Watch out for that tree!" Ami yelled, but too late. Thud. Ooh!

Switch Scene

"Hello Joram." Katreen said as she noticed her favourite mortal, well mostly mortal, approaching. "What brings this unexpected meeting?"

"I'd like to speak with you about Hotaru." Joram said seriously as he put his arm around Katreen's shoulders and guided her in the direction of the castle's gardens.

End of Chapter 11

A.N. - There we go. Not too much happened with this chapter, but I'm hoping to get more done with chapter 12. I, for some inexplicable reason, was driven to write this chapter…. It only took me 2 ½ days too….

I thought I'd throw everyone a curve ball with Hotaru and Joram. It just seemed to… fit. More will be explained this next chapter (insert kitty like grin).

I decided to explain a little more about Genma, and what the Mysterious Wizard is planning. There was also an obvious hint that there is a new enemy for the Senshi to take care of, but that may take a while to get going. I still have to think of a suitably cheesy name for said villain.

As usual, send along a review if you have questions or comments. Rants are fun to read too.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Hotaru, mmm…?" Katreen mused as Joram led her to the gardens. She stayed silent for a time, just enjoying Joram's presence for the time being. There would be plenty of discussion soon enough and she really didn't want to go there just yet.

So it was that the two of them walked in silence as they approached the castle gardens. The halls of the castle were as plain as ever; there weren't even any wall hangings to keep the eye occupied. Just stone everywhere. The floor, though, was set in a diamond pattern of black and white. The walls were unadorned granite, though polished to mirror smoothness.

Katreen couldn't help but notice the slight tension around Joram's eyes, the slightly more brisk walk that he used as they stepped from the castle out into the gardens. The gardens themselves were quite a sight to behold, for they held many species of tree and flower that had long since gone extinct. It was enough to take away the breath of the casual observer, someone who'd never before been there. But for Joram it was almost a common sight. Katreen gave a silent sigh as they arrived at the gazebo in the center of the gardens. The questions would start soon.

Joram guided her to a bench and sat himself down beside her. Katreen regarded him as he seemed to collect his thoughts for a moment before he turned to face her.

"Is Hotaru really my sister?" Joram asked straight out. He'd never been one to beat around the bush when it came to important things.

"Not in this life, no." Katreen replied simply. He did have to ask the right questions otherwise she couldn't provide the right answer.

Joram seemed to ponder that statement for a moment before continuing. "Was she my sister when I was younger?"

"Yes. You're mother gave birth to a baby girl a year after you were born, but she did not survive when she contracted pneumonia when she was three months old. As a matter of a fact, you just barely survived the ordeal." Katreen related the events in her usual tone of voice; calm.

Joram sat back for a moment to take it in. Katreen could see how hard he was trying to remember the events related to him, but to no avail. At length he turned to her once again. "Could you tell my why Hotaru's soul isn't properly in phase with her body?"

"Yes." Katreen again replied simply.

Joram waited for a few moments before heaving a great sigh. "May you tell me why Hotaru's soul isn't properly in phase with her body?" Katreen smiled.

"It is because of the spell that Queen Serenity cast on the Senshi and a few others at the end of the Silver Millennium. It wasn't quite… strong enough. Where the others were able to be reborn in this time, several didn't make it to this time and have thus gone back into the cycle. Hotaru was on the… edge of the spell if you will. She was able to be reborn, but her soul wasn't properly attached." Katreen paused for a moment to catch his attention. "Then there was the problem with Mistress 9. That was compounded by the problem with the spell not working correctly, but that's a whole different story we don't need to go into without Hotaru present."

"Okay, so how would I go about fixing the problem?" Joram asked as soon as she finished.

"That is a little more complicated. There are two ways to do it." Katreen said and paused for emphasis. "You can either kill her and bring her back to life, which would be the easy way, or go on a quest for a particular tome of power."

"Some choice you've given me." Joram mused darkly beside her. He didn't look too happy about the choice. Presumably because he'd either have to hurt his sister or he'd have to take a potentially long detour. She knew that he didn't like to put things off for any period of time and this would take some time to do. She was well aware of his commitment to the Saotome matriarch and that would take some time to do before he could finally get to the problem with Hotaru.

"Would you be happy if I told you that your quest for Nodoka and your quest for Hotaru would coincide in their destinations?" As expected Joram perked up at the question.

"What do you mean?"

"To fulfill the quest that her ancestor had taken upon himself and his line Nodoka must go to the mountain that her ancestor went to so very long ago. To find the tome of power with which to cure Hotaru you must go to that ancient place of knowledge." Katreen told her favourite mortal with a grin on her face.

She knew how much his word meant to him when he gave it and she also knew how much he strove to help people. This should prove to be a double boon for him. Katreen smiled to herself, a small thing, but sincere.

"So I only really have to finish the sword before we need go on this quest?" Joram asked, now using a more business like tone. That was a sure sign that he's already planned things out in his head. Again she was amazed with Joram, for he once again showed how well he could think on his feet when presented with a difficult situation. For all his carelessness, he could be very effective at times.

"Thank you Katreen." Joram said with that winning smile of his. "I must now go and prepare for tomorrow's training session."

"You're not going to train them like you trained those others back in the day, are you?" Katreen asked with an expression that was torn between fearful and anticipatory.

"You know it." Was all Joram said before melting away like the morning mist. Katreen just smiled to herself. Those girls were in for it.

Switch Scene; Sunday morning

"Come on Sakura! We need to go!" Joram yelled into the dojo from his place outside the front doors. From the muffled reply he got in return he guessed that she was still getting dressed. He sighed. This was taking way too long. "I'm going to leave you behind if you don't hurry up!"

"Give me a break already! The sun isn't even up yet!" Asuza complained as she came out the door, pulling on a light jacket.

"You aren't gonna need that you know." Joram said as he motioned to the jacket.

"Why not? It's kinda cold out this morning." Asuza asked, somewhat puzzled.

"We're going to be running there." Joram replied in that infuriatingly simple manner of his.

"You're kidding, right?" Asuza asked, dread seeping out into her tone.

"Nope."

"It's two districts over!" Asuza yelled, almost pleading.

"So? You need the stamina training, and I need a good workout. What's there to complain about? I'm even letting you off the hook by not having you put on your training gear." Joram said as though he were the nicest guy in the world.

"Training gear? What training gear?" Asuza asked, the dread clearly evident in her tone.

"This." Joram said as he pulled a small mesh sack from his shoulder satchel. It contained what looked like bracers, shin guards and some sort of jacket like breast plate. When he dropped the sack to the ground it landed with a loud thud, and sank a good inch into the ground.

"What the hell is that!" Asuza demanded as she pointed at the gear, astonishment clearly written on her face.

"Your training gear…." Joram replied slowly, making sure the thoughts were clear in his head as they were sent to her. Maybe he should learn Japanese to make sure that there were no mix-ups in translation from brain to brain.

"You expect me to wear that?"

"Yes. All gennin that I've trained in the past have worn such gear."

"Are you crazy?" Asuza asked, completely serious.

"Not at all. Why?"

"How is anyone supposed to move around wearing that!" Asuza demanded as she pointed to the offending mesh sack of gear.

"With training of course." Again, said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Asuza just smacked her forehead in exasperation. This was going nowhere. "Can we go?"

"Sure." Joram said with a shrug. He didn't know what the fuss was all about, seeing as how she could wear the training gear without expending too much effort. With a sigh he bent over and lifted it up and placed it once again in his satchel. It really was heavy; he even needed to concentrate his chakra to lift the sack one handed.

"One last thing?" Asuza asked/said as they walked to the front gates. Joram made a sound that she assumed meant for her to continue. "Do you wear the same kind of gear?"

"It's not the same model, but yes." Joram said as he pointed to the bracers on his forearms and motioned to the shin guards he wore.

"They look lighter." Asuza said dubiously.

"Nah, they weigh about the same." Joram replied as they got to the gate.

"What about the chest piece?" Asuza pressed, not wanting to let him get away with not wearing the whole set.

"Oh that I've replaced with my Dragon Silk Armour." Joram said as he prodded his chest with his left thumb, looking as proud as a rooster.

"That t-shirt?" Asuza asked with visible, and audible, scepticism.

"No." Joram replied. "It's under the t-shirt."

"How can you have any sort of armour under a t-shirt?" Asuza asked as Joram started into a light jog that she took up easily.

"Well, it's kinda magical. It responds to thought, so I can make it turn any colour and change its shape and texture. The one drawback to the armour is that the weight never changes." Joram explained easily from her side as they jogged.

"How can something that small weigh so much?" Asuza asked curiously.

"Well, it was originally made for an ancient dragon, so its actual size is much larger…." Joram said as they passed by a few people that were out for various reasons of their own.

"What happened to the dragon?" Asuza pressed, not wanting to miss the chance to hear a good story. Ever since she was little she loved to listen to stories being told by others. It didn't matter if they were true or not, she just loved to imagine being there herself and witnessing the event.

"Well, I kinda killed the owner…." Joram said with a rueful grin. He was slowly picking up the pace as they went. They were now going at a run. Nothing anywhere near a sprint, but fast nonetheless. "You see, an ancient red dragon named Xhiao-Ling had been terrorizing a region to the north and east of Konoha. I was sent along with five other squads to eliminate said terror. After a long and arduous battle where most of the shinobi who had come had perished, Xhiao-Ling was defeated. As the one who dealt the final blow, I was allowed to take first pick of the treasure that was to be brought back to Konoha." Joram said in a tone that made it obvious he was reliving the event. "I chose the wing armour that was invulnerable to any blade or arrow."

Asuza was disappointed with the lack of detail in the story, but also happy that he had told her at all. It was like pulling teeth to get Joram to say much of anything about his past. Something then occurred to her. "Why didn't you bring any of the shinobi back to life like you did me?"

Joram made a face that was hard to read. It was the sore point of his stay in Konoha that had ultimately decided his departure. "The Hokage of the time, a very wise man, had forbidden me to do so." As a result though, he had learned a great deal of things. Among them being able to let go.

"Why would he do that? Didn't he know how many people's lives would be saved?" Asuza asked, astonished. "Wouldn't that have kept the strength of the village up? Wouldn't people want to see their loved ones return from missions alive and well?" Asuza asked, not quite sure why anyone would forbid such a thing.

"I too questioned his judgement on the issue at first, and even after I left the village." Joram said as the sped along the streets on their way to the shrine. They were now going the same speed as the traffic around them. Any person that saw them stood still in shock, not quite sure what to make of the spectacle. "At length I came to a realization that he was right." Joram said as she shook is head slightly at the memory.

"What do you mean?" Asuza asked, still not quite getting it.

"If everyone who went out on a mission had no fear of dieing permanently they would soon grow weak. Sure the missions would be accomplished and the numbers of shinobi would stay the same, but then complacency would start to sneak in. Soon they would start to get sloppy, careless. Then what would happen when it finally came time for me to leave? The quality of shinobi would have dropped so considerably that the village would be easy prey to the other shinobi nations wishing to expand their territory and knowledge by conquering other villages." Joram explained. "And that is why I was forbidden from ever resurrecting anyone while I was in the village."

Asuza stayed quiet. What was there to say to that? 'It must have been hard for you.' Or maybe some other hollowly sympathetic line like that? She just learned that the man running beside her had watched many of his companions die, and had done nothing to help them. Or rather, was bound not to help them, to bring them back like she had been brought back.

"Why was I brought back then?" Asuza asked quietly as she ran beside Joram, the man who had given her a second chance.

It was now Joram's turn to remain silent for a time.

"Joram?" Asuza prodded after a few minutes of silent running.

"Your case was different." Joram said finally, in a tone that said he would say no more. Instead though, he changed the subject. "We should be arriving at the shrine in the next five or ten minutes."

"You're kidding, right? We've only been running for fifteen minutes, at best!" Asuza said, somewhat shocked. She then just about tripped when she refocused on her surroundings and realized where they were.

"Heh-heh-heh…." Joram chuckled as he slowed his pace to match Asuza's. "Caught you off guard, didn't I?"

"But how did we get so far so fast?" She asked as she stared at her surroundings. People were watching the two of them with mixed interest. Some looked as though they wanted to come over and say something, others just pretended not to see them. It wasn't every day in the Juuban district that something like this happened. They were just used to magical girls and demons, not your everyday looking people running at the same pace as the traffic going by.

"It's part of the package. That's all." Joram replied with a shrug as they once again continued on their way, though at a more reasonable pace. Meaning they were still putting Olympic athletes to shame.

It wasn't much longer before the familiar hill and accompanying forest came into view and the pair once again slowed their pace. Joram remembered the last time he was here with a wince. That night was still something he'd rather not remember. One: he'd been killed, two: he'd come close to losing his temper and killing those two kids. He hadn't seriously lost his temper in a long time (discounting that minor incident with that robber; that had been instinct). Joram shuddered slightly at the memory.

"Are you feeling well?" Asuza asked as they began their ascent to the little temple.

"Hmmm...?" Joram asked distractedly as he climbed the stairs.

"Joram! ARE-YOU-FEELING-ALL-RIGHT?" Asuza asked loudly and with enough enunciation that a new born baby would have understood with perfect clarity.

"Yeah, just fine." Joram replied as they came to the top of the stairs. "I was just thinking about a few things. Nothing to worry about!" Joram said enthusiastically as he turned to her. "Wow, would you look at that!" Joram said and pointed to the beautiful sunrise.

The sun was just peaking out turning the undersides of the sparse dune-like clouds a beautiful shade of pink with a hint of orange. The sky was a light purplish colour at about cloud level, then deepened to darker shades of purple and midnight blue. All in all, it was an amazing sight to behold.

"Wow, I wish I had a camera…." Asuza said and trailed off.

"A what?" Joram asked, not having heard that word before.

"A camera." Asuza repeated, then sighed at the blank look she was getting. "It's a device that can instantly make a portrait, or painting out of whatever you see." Asuza explained, then had to hid a smile at the expression of sheer awe and wonder on Joram's face.

"That is amazing! Where can I get one!" Joram demanded, too excited to care about being polite.

"I'll show you later… if you be good." Asuza said with a glint in her eye.

"Deal!" Joram said then promptly took her hand and pumped it up and down a few times to seal the deal. Asuza grinned.

"Anyway, let's get going." Asuza said to change the subject.

"Yeah, we've got a lot of work ahead of us." Joram replied as he came crashing back down to reality. He then turned and motioned to the yard in front of them. Asuza gasped. It looked as though someone had taken explosives and had wantonly thrown them around.

"You did this?" Asuza asked Joram as they approached the shrine entrance.

"Not just me…." Joram said and trailed off. He'd have to watch what he said around Asuza. He'd promised the girls that he'd keep their secret.

"And who else could produce and inflict such wanton destruction?" Asuza asked in an accusatory tone of voice.

Joram saved himself from answering by pulling on the bell at the front door. Asuza just gave up on it. If he didn't want to talk about something, she wasn't going to waste energy trying to pry it out of him.

A few moments later footsteps could be heard approaching the front door, then it opened up to show a very short old man in priestly robes.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed right now. How about you come back in another couple of hours?" The old man more stated than asked.

"Actually we have an appointment with Rei this morning, could you let her know we're here?" Joram asked as politely as he could. He was always taught to respect the elderly, even though he was probably more than twice the guys' age….

The old man blinked a few times and gave Joram a penetrating look. "You were here last week, weren't you?"

"I, uh…. What makes you say that…?" Joram trailed off, not really knowing what to say. He didn't want the old guy to hate him right off the bat, but he really didn't want to lie.

"Once I got home that night I could feel the residual energies left by you and the others. You'd have to be in a stupor not to have noticed." He said critically as he once again began to eye Joram. He then abruptly turned to Asuza and regarded her until she began to fidget.

"What are you staring at!" Asuza finally snapped.

"I've never before met someone so bursting with life as you are young lady." He said with mixed curiosity and awe.

Joram promptly smacked himself in the forehead. 'I knew I was forgetting something.' Joram thought to himself as he realized he hadn't taught Asuza how to suppress her aura.

Joram jumped in as soon as he saw Asuza start to blush.

"Anyway, is Rei awake yet? We really need to get started if we're gonna have a decent day of training." Joram said trying to distract the old man. "That and I have to hurry and fix up the yard."

"So you were the one who destroyed the yard!" The old man exclaimed somewhat angrily.

"That's what I've been telling you grandpa!" Rei said as she strode out the front door while adjusting her sash.

"Like I was supposed to believe a story like that." Rei's grandpa snorted as he shook his head.

"Hey Joram!" Hotaru said as she topped the stairs leading to the temple. She was wearing some sort of baggy pants and long sleeved shirt with a hood (a sweat suit), and of course the crystal. As she came a few steps in from the stairs it was evident that the minor exertion of climbing said stairs was enough to wind her. Joram felt a pang in his heart. Never before had he met someone so physically weak that they would be winded and sweating from such a short climb.

Soon Ami topped the stairs followed closely by Minako, then came Makoto with something on her back. Joram sweat dropped as he recognized the lump on Makoto's back; it was Usagi in her pyjamas and night cap.

"You see Sakura; even Makoto recognizes the usefulness of doing weight training." Joram said in an instructional tone of voice.

Makoto and the other three with her sweat dropped. "Actually, this was the only way to get this lazy bum over here." Makoto said as she unceremoniously dropper her sleeping, and drooling, princess on her bottom. That promptly woke her up, unfortunately it also caused her to start wailing.

"Waaaaaaaa! Why'd'ya have'ta do that!" Wailed Usagi as she both sat there and rubber her bottom.

"Would you can it dumpling head!" Rei yelled at her, which just do happened to be when she was sucking another great breath to continue her wailing. This caused Usagi to hic-cough and get those famous, big, puppy dog watery eyes of hers. The torrent threatened for another moment before Ami walked up to her and handed her a small bag of homemade cookies.

"Don't worry about it Usagi, she's just grumpy that she had to wake up this early too." Ami said consolingly. Rei blushed a fierce shade of red that seemed to match her red pants.

"Anyway…." Joram said as he tried to collect himself. "Now that we're all here why don't we get started, hmm?" Joram said loudly enough so that everyone could hear him. All present, save Usagi, seemed to perk up. The aforementioned blonde not liking the idea of starting training before breakfast. Joram remedied that situation quickly enough by getting Rei's grandfather to take her inside to eat something. Said grandfather accepted because he really didn't like seeing a young lady cry. That and he might get complaints from the neighbours again about the noise….

Soon enough everyone present got themselves sufficiently organized that Joram could commence.

"Ok Minako, Makoto and Ami, you'll go with Sakura here and begin practicing with her. She's been training with me and with Ranma-kun, so she's got a good base to work from. Just don't go too hard on them, ok Sakura-chan?" Joram more stated than asked as he motioned for Rei and Hotaru to follow him.

"Who does he think he is? How does a few days training matter for anything? I've been training for years!" Makoto growled to herself as she followed Sakura and the others to their designated sparring area.

"It's because I learn fast, that's why." Asuza said as she continued to walk about twenty feet ahead of the group.

"She's got pretty good hearing." Minako whispered to Ami as she followed along.

"That I do." Asuza said once again in that patient tone of hers. "Now if you'd all just get ready, I'll begin the training." She said as she came to a stop on the other side of the temple.

"I still can't believe that I have to take lessons from a rookie." Makoto said, this time not making any effort to lower her voice in the least.

"Makoto! You shouldn't-" Ami began to say, but was cut off by Asuza.

"Come over here then, and show me that you're not all talk young lady." Asuza said with a snicker.

"You've asked for it!" Makoto said as she dashed forward to teach this girl a thing or two about martial arts.

Switch Scene

"Now Rei, if you could turn your back for a moment I'd like to prepare." Joram said as he took her by the shoulders and turned her around. Rei was a little perturbed. What preparations did he need to teach her a new technique?

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Summon Monster; Djinn!" Joram said in quick succession. Rei turns around to see not only Joram standing there, but another Joram and some weird tall guy in baggy pants and a vest. Her jaw drops.

"Now number two, you go and fix the damage done to this temple, and I'll train Rei here." Joram said to himself.

"What? Why do I have to do that! You're the one that did the original damage; shouldn't you be the one to fix it up?" The other Joram began to complain. The tall guy just looked confused.

"Haven't we gone over this hundreds of times before? You're the clone, you go do the grunt work!" Joram said as he kicked at the other Joram, but was too slow as the other Joram just jumped over the kick and started to walk off, grumbling all the while to himself.

"Am I really awake yet?" Both Rei and Hotaru asked in unison. They each looked at the other and sighed.

"Now ladies, let us begin." Joram said as his clone went around a corner. Rei and Hotaru once again shared a look that said "this is definitely odd", but both turned and faced him anyway. "Rei, these are the hand seals you need to know to do this jutsu," Joram said as he slowly showed her what hand seals were needed and in what order. "While you do these hand seals you also need to access your chakra, or ki as I've heard it referred to as, and picture your target being immobilized by some means. You could picture ropes, chains, whatever. Just know that they take on a visual appearance, so decide what it'll be before you even try. It could be embarrassing if you don't." Joram said with a grin.

"Um, could you please tell me why I was summoned to this plane?" The tall man asked politely, but if one looked closely, you could see that he was annoyed.

"Ah, it must have been quite some time since someone last summoned one of your kind to this plane, eh?" Joram said as he gave a laugh.

"That would be an understatement." The tall man said as he looked Joram over. "Are you aware of the strictures on summoning one of my kind mortal?"

"Ah, that I am. Name your game." Joram replied with a grin.

"Then it shall be… a game of Super Alley Planetar Fighter IV!" The tall man said as he snapped his fingers. A huge television pops into existence right in front of the two, along with some sort of console and a couple of controllers. "It shall be the best two out of three." The tall man said as he smirked confidently.

Joram just looked at the guy and sweat dropped. "Can I see the rules please?"

"Certainly mortal." The tall man replied as he handed Joram the instruction manual. "I'll give you ten standard minutes to read it over before the contest starts."

"Ooh, that's one of my favourite games!" Hotaru said as she looked longingly at the whole set up.

"Really?" Joram asked as he looked up from the instruction booklet. "Why don't you have a go at it then?"

"Really? I'd love to!" Hotaru exclaimed as she bounced over.

"Oi. You're the one who's supposed to complete the challenge." The tall man in the vest said as Hotaru takes up the first player joystick.

"Actually, the rules say that you chose the challenge, not who has to participate." Joram says as he pulls out a rather old looking leather bound book from his satchel. "Here, look at page twenty-nine, paragraph two."

The tall man looks at Joram sceptically, but takes the book anyway. After a moment he sighs and hands the book back. "You are correct." He says, not looking too happy about it.

"All right! Let's fight!" Hotaru cheers as the tall man takes the other controller. Moments later, their characters chosen, the battle begins.

Moments later, the tall stranger hangs his head in shame. How could he have been beaten so easily? He asks himself as he looks up at the still dark sky and weeps to himself. "I can't bear the shame!" He wails as he tries to hide his head in shame behind his arm.

"You shouldn't worry about it too much. I get loads of practice at home. I can't play any sports, and the various clubs at school won't have anything to do with me, so I just play video games in my spare time. It wasn't a fair contest to begin with." Hotaru says as she tries to pat the tall man on the shoulder, but only succeeds in patting his elbow.

"That's right! It wasn't fair, was it?" The tall man says as he stands up straight once again. "Then I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way!" He then points at Joram who is still trying to figure out the instruction booklet. "I challenge you to a duel summoner! That's how its supposed to be done anyway. If I win, you give me a gem worth at least ten thousand gold pieces, if you win, I stay!" He then takes a large falchion from behind his sash, and points it at Joram.

"Hey, Rei? Where'd he get that sword from?" Hotaru asks as she stares in awe.

"Don't know, don't wanna know." Rei replies, trying very hard not to think.

"Oh, really?" Joram asks with a glint in his eye.

Edited!

"So just stand there and try to move after Rei is finished with her jutsu, ok?" Joram says to the now black and blue stranger standing off to the right.

"Yes Master." He sobs.

"Now get to it Rei, I expect you to have this down pat by the end of the day." Joram said as he walks over to where Hotaru is playing the video game.

"Just how easy does he think this will be?" Rei asks herself as she begins to focus herself.

Switch Scene

"Now Hotaru I have some good news and some bad new." Joram said as he guided Hotaru over to one of the benches found on the grounds.

"What is it?" Hotaru asks as she sits down, worry written all over her face.

"Well, the good new is that I've found a way for you to be cured." Joram said with his usual smile, then was interrupted by Hotaru giving a huge hug.

"That's great! When can we start?" She asked with a smile that beamed such happiness that it almost hurt.

"That's the bad news." Joram said and watched as disappointment slowly crept across her face. It nearly broke his heart. "You see, this particular Tomb of Power is in China, and I'm not really sure which mountain it's in…." Joram explained, but had to stop as Hotaru bowed her head to hide her face. Joram watched as a tear dropped from behind her hair that shrouded her face and land on the back of her hand. "Are you all right? I know it's disappointing, but we'll find that mountain quickly enough and get that cure for you…." Joram trailed off, not really knowing what to say. For all the many long years he'd lived, he'd never really been good at comforting women in distress.

"It's not that," Hotaru said as she looked up at Joram, a tremulous smile on her tear streaked face. "I'm just happy that you've found something." Hotaru lied. She had really been hoping that they'd be able to cure her as soon as possible, but it didn't look like it would be terribly soon.

"Ah, I see. Well, you won't have to worry all that much. Ranma, his friends and family have all said that they'd come along for the journey. Apparently most of them have been to the Qing-Hai province before, so it shouldn't take too long to find. I can also ask Katreen for help, remember?" Joram once again tried to cheer her up. This time it seemed to work.

"You mean all those other people will be helping you help me?" Hotaru asked, her eyes getting all starry like.

"Something like that. You see, it'll be a two fold journey. We also have to help Nodoka, Ranma's mother, settle a little something one of her ancestors took upon his family line." Joram said so that she wouldn't get the wrong idea, but then mentally kicked himself in the butt. "But they are more than happy to be helping out!"

"That's ok." Hotaru said as she leaned up against Joram's side to rest a little. "I want to come along too."

"Are you sure about that?" Joram asked dubiously. "I don't know how much your adoptive parents would go for that…."

"Well, that's their problem. If I can help you along the way so that I can get cured, and so that Ranma's mother can help her ancestors rest in peace, I want to do it." She said firmly from his side.

Joram grinned to himself. That was the kind of thing he'd say, no matter what condition he was in. "It's settled then. You can come along." Joram said with a smile.

Switch Scene

In the shadows of the trees surrounding the Hino family temple a figure can just be made out in the light of dawn. Said figure is dressed in military camouflage with a large backpack and a set of binoculars trained on two people sitting on a bench, one a man, the other a young lady leaning against the man.

"Black Wolf here. Target spotted. Over." The figure in the shadows says into the military walkie-talkie.

"Uh, sure 'Black Wolf', just don't bother them too much." Says a woman's voice from the other end.

"You're supposed to end it with 'Over'!" The one on the ground says harshly into the walkie-talkie.

"Hai-hai." Replies the voice from the other end, sounding quite bored with it all. "Just don't get spotted, or she'll never forgive you. Over." From the tone of voice, one could just picture the person on the other end shaking her head, and in fact she was.

"Black Wolf out." Haruka said as she put the walkie-talkie away and once again began to watch Hotaru with the mystery man. Something about him was bothering her. Not just the fact that he was a man, and that Hotaru was leaning against him, but something else. Something she just couldn't put her finger on.

After another twenty minutes or so her proverbial finger was stepped on by a large, heavy boot. She stared in shock as the man stood up and offered Hotaru and hand up. It was that demon Joram! How could Hotaru betray them so!

Haruka had to quickly pull out a paper bag and breathe into it for a few minutes for fear of hyperventilating. She just couldn't believe it. How had this happened? Hadn't she witnessed Joram's attacks on them? Hadn't she seen what that monster could do?

"Black Wolf here. We've gotta speed up the plan, Hotaru is in danger!" Haruka said in a near panic as she scrambled away from the edge of the trees so that she could get up without being seen.

"What do you mean? What's happened!" Michiru demanded from her end of the line.

"Just have everybody ready as soon as possible and have them meet at the shrine!" Haruka said as she started to head back to her car. 'This will have to work the first time,' Haruka thought to herself as she went. 'He's way to clever for this plan to work again if it fails.'

Switch Scene

"So, will you now listen to what I have to say?" Asuza asked Makoto as she picked herself up off the ground.

"I don't know where you learned that, but it won't work on me again." Makoto said as she once again took up a fighting stance.

"This is why Joram wants me to teach you all how to fight. You just aren't good enough right now as is." Asuza explained in a patient tone of voice. Not like she'd been any better a couple of days before this. She really didn't know how she did it, but she could pick up on what people were doing, and follow it perfectly. Heck, she could even copy what the other person was doing… to a certain extent anyway. She still hadn't managed to get anywhere near as fast as Joram or Ranma, or even the rest of them for that matter, but she was starting to see it. Not only that, but she was able to see more and more as she fought with them.

"Can it!" Makoto said as she dashed in, feinted a right punch, but then pulled it in to help her spin faster and delivered a devastating blow to Sakura's sternum. Or would have had she been there.

Looking around frantically, Makoto realized her mistake when Sakura's foot came up and connected with her chin. It felt as though she'd been hit by a truck. In reality, a truck wouldn't have hit so hard.

Makoto shook her head groggily from where she lay a dozen or so feet away from where she'd been kicked.

"Mako-chan! Are you all right?" Ami demanded from her side. Minako was only half a heartbeat away getting there.

"What hit me?" Makoto asked as she tried in vain to determine which Ami had spoken to her.

"I did." Asuza said as she came over to look down at Makoto. "Now, if you'd get up, we can start with the lesson." With that said she turned and walked back to the spot where they'd decided to practice.

"I guess she's proved her point." Ami said as she helped a not-so-steady Makoto to her feet.

"You got that right." Minako said from the other side of Makoto. "I don't think Haruka could've hit so hard or fast."

"Nothing to do but let her teach us." Makoto said as she shook the cobwebs out of her head. "Lets get going." But for all her brave words she was still trying to determine which of the many Sakura's in front of her was the real one.

Several hours later

"I can't do it anymore." Rei said as she collapsed onto a bench near where she was practicing. She hadn't been this exhausted since her early training with her grandfather. She was even drenched in sweat, and she hadn't done anything more strenuous than stand there and concentrate!

"Miss, are you all right? Do you need a break?" The tall man in the funny clothes asked her politely from where he stood.

Rei looked at him and growled in disgust. Not only had he been able to shrug off the binding technique she was working on like it was nothing, but he'd already completely healed the bruising he'd received from Joram!

"Just who are you anyway?" Rei asked as she tried to center herself in preparation for the next attempt.

"My name is Ahd'Mar Hosath, Djinn extraordinaire from the Elemental Plane of Air." Ahd'Mar said with an extravagant bow.

"Uh, right." Says Rei with a small sweat drop. 'Where had this loon come from?' She thought to herself as she once again stood up. "Well Admar, let's get going!"

And so Rei continues to try and bind his movements, not realizing that she was way too weak to even try think of binding a Djinn…. But that's what practice if for.

Switch Scene

"Come on Hotaru, we've done enough meditation for now. Just remember meditate like this before you go to sleep at night, and before you leave for school in the morning, ok?" Joram said as he led Hotaru back to where Rei was practicing.

"Sure thing Joram!" Hotaru said enthusiastically. She hadn't felt so good in, well, ever! It was like she'd gotten a new battery or something!

"I guess it's about time for everyone to break for a snack." Joram said to himself. "That, and I guess I should give Rei the glasses she'll need to read the scroll…." Joram said as he promptly smacked himself in the forehead. He could've been using those glasses to read Japanese this whole time! Boy did he feel stupid right then.

"What's wrong Joram?" Hotaru asked, somewhat concerned.

"Just remembered something, that's all." Joram said in a pained voice. 'How could I have forgotten something that simple!'

"Oh, ok." Hotaru replied as she walked along with Joram, enjoying his company. The more time she spent with him, the more it felt somehow… right. She didn't know how to explain it, or even why she felt like she did, but there it was.

"Hey Rei! You can relax for now. I've got the reading glasses I said I'd bring!" Joram called over to Rei as they approached, then spoke in a more normal tone of voice. "You can spend the next bit reading over the scroll and seeing how you need to correct your technique."

"What are you saying? I've almost got this down!" Rei said as she panted and as sweat dripped from her face. Joram looked over to Ahd'Mar to confirm this, but Ahd'Mar just shook his head. Joram grinned.

"At the least we all need to take a break to have a snack." Joram said as he handed Rei an old looking pair of spectacles. The lenses were oval shaped and rimmed in what looked like a simple set of gold frames. All in all, nothing extraordinary.

"But I don't need reading glasses." Rei objected lamely as Joram number two led the others over to where they were standing.

Ami and Minako stared at Joram as they came around the corner, having never before seen Joram do this. Makoto just took it in stride and sat on the ground beside where Rei was standing.

"Number Two, Ahd'Mar, you're dismissed." Joram number two just shrugged, but Ahd'Mar gave a start at Joram knowing his name, but complied anyway. Both disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" Minako asked as she too sat down.

"Simple summoning, that's all." Joram said as he took a large blanket out of his shoulder satchel and spread it out on the ground for those gathered to sit on. Minako and Makoto both got up and helped straighten it out before once again sitting down. Ami just shook her head at yet another display of weird magic from Joram and sat down.

"Say, where's Usagi?" Joram asked as he took out several bags of cookies from his satchel and set them on the blanket.

"That's a good question." Rei said as she opened one of the bags. "She's probably sleeping in my room right now, the slacker."

"She didn't show up for basic training, so I thought she'd gone over to get some special lessons from you." Asuza said from her spot at Joram's left side.

"No, haven't seen her all morning." Joram said with a frown. 'How lazy was that princess anyway?'

"Oh, hey guys! Break time already?" Usagi asked as she trotted up to the group.

"Where've you been Dumpling head?" Rei asks in the tone she usually uses with Usagi.

"Sorry, but Mamoru called and wanted to talk for some reason." Usagi said and promptly forgot about everything in existence as she spotted the cookies in the middle of the blanket. She then b-lined it to said cookies and started to make short work of them.

Joram sighed. Why did girls drop everything when their boyfriend came around?

"What did he want to talk about?" Ami asked as she munched on a biscuit. She'd managed to hide a bag before Usage had spotted it.

"Oh, just about stuff, you know?" Joram was genuinely impressed at how she could speak so clearly with such a large mouthful of food. "Like who all was here, and how long we planned on being here and all that."

"Why'd he want to know?" Makoto asked. "Does he plan on dropping by?"

"I think so." Usagi said around another large mouthful of food. "He said he had something to talk to Joram about."

"Like what?" Minako said. "Last time we mentioned Joram he just about blew a gasket."

"Don't know, but he didn't sound angry. It should be fine." Usagi said with a large smile. Unfortunately for her there were bits of cookie stuck to her teeth, which made everyone present laugh. Not knowing why they were laughing, Usagi just continued eating.

After another fifteen minutes or so of idle chit-chat and drink sipping they were interrupted by approaching footsteps.

Joram looked over to where they were coming from and sighed. Ami, curious as ever, looked over to where Joram was looking at the same time as Hotaru and Asuza and gasped. 'What were Sailors Uranus and Neptune doing here with Tuxedo Kamen?' She asked herself in a near panic.

Usagi looked up at about the same time as the rest of them and jumped to her feet. "Mamoru!" She squealed and hurried over to her boyfriend and gave him a big hug.

"What're you guys doing here?" Makoto asked as she got to her feet. She still didn't think the Outers were right for hating Joram, and was still wary of what they might do to him.

Asuza got her first look at the legendary Sailor Senshi and just about laughed. 'Why were they wearing such sort skirts?'

"We've come to speak with Joram." Tuxedo Kamen said as he handed Usagi his cane as a show of non-aggression. Both Outer Senshi kept their hands spread at their sides, showing that they had nothing hidden.

"Ah, sure. What do you want to talk about?" Joram asked as he got up and walked over to the magic using warriors in front of him. Hotaru got up and walked about halfway to Joram, but hesitated when Uranus spoke up.

"We'd like a word with you, in private." She really sounded as though she were having a tooth pulled with how much it pained her to speak in a civil manner to Joram.

"Sure, this way." Joram said as he motioned for them to walk beside him as he headed over to the wall at the edge of the property. The Outers started to angle slightly to that they'd be in a spot a ways around the temple so that the others couldn't see.

Joram just gave a mental shrug and followed. He was ready to fight if need be, but he was hoping that it wouldn't come to that. He had to hide a grin though when he realized that the seven girls he'd been with were sneaking along behind them, trying hard not to be seen. He had to give them credit though, he'd only noticed them because he'd been scanning the area with his senses to make sure that no one else was around.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about so urgently?" Joram asked as he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. This area was where he'd fought with the Outers last, and just so happened to be within good eavesdropping distance for those hiding behind the row of bushes a little ways off to the right.

"We'd like to, ah…." Sailor Uranus began, but couldn't quite finish.

"We're here to a-a-a…." Tuxedo Kamen couldn't quite get it out. It was probably the hardest thing he'd had to do in his life.

"We've come to apologize for our behaviour." Sailor Neptune said as she stepped forward to take the lead. "We realize that our fighting and animosity will get us nowhere in our fight against evil, so we propose a truce of sorts."

"Well, that's interesting. What do you have in mind?" Joram asked, playing along.

"You see, if we continue to fight our attentions will be drawn away from more pertinent issues, like new enemies that threaten the establishment of the Moon Kingdom." Neptune continued to act as the groups' spokesperson.

"New enemies of the Moon Kingdom, eh?" Joram mused to himself. There was enough truth in what they said, but something wasn't adding up.

"So what do you say? No more fighting until all threats to the Moon Kingdom have been neutralized?" Neptune said as she began to walk forward slowly, hand outstretched to shake Joram's hand. The other two, Uranus and Tuxedo Kamen, followed suit, hands outstretched.

Joram gave another mental shrug and started forward too. Maybe he was just being paranoid? Maybe they really did want to work together, so to speak.

Just as he was about to shake hands with Tuxedo Kamen, Tuxedo Kamen pulled his hand back quickly and shot his fist forward fast enough for it to blur. Joram was taken completely by surprise and was knocked back several feet.

Before he could once again get his footing both Uranus and Neptune yelled out in unison. "WORLD SHAKING/DEEP SUBMERGE!" The attacks caught him square on as he felt another temporal distortion form behind him. With a silent curse he was flung back, and out of the corner of his eye caught some more movement from where the girls were hiding. 'I hope nothing happens to them,' He thought to himself as he gathered his energy.

Switch Scene

'I can't believe it, they're actually apologizing….' Hotaru thought to herself as she watched the three people who she thought would never do such a thing. Maybe they had actually listened to her warning? That would be good. She really didn't want to have to choose sides in a meaningless conflict between people she loved and respected.

She was so happy that they were going to shake hands and make it all better that she missed the odd glint in Haruka-papa's eye. Only when she saw some sort of portal opening did she clue into what might happen. She was up and running by the time Tuxedo Kamen hit Joram in the chest and almost to him when her adoptive parents' attacks struck him dead on.

She just managed to grab hold of his hand as he was flung through some sort of portal and was pulled along for the ride. The last thing she heard was Michiru mama's voice yelling her name.

Switch Scene

Asuza couldn't believe her eyes. The Sailor Senshi had double crossed Joram.

She just couldn't get her mind around that thought. The Senshi were supposed to be protectors, not aggressors. What did they think they were doing? And poor Hotaru. She'd been sucked into that weird portal along with Joram. What was going to happen to them on the other side of that thing?

So preoccupied was she that she failed to notice the other five girls around her leap up in anger and shock. She even missed their flashy transformations. She just couldn't seem to take her eyes off the spot where the portal had disappeared.

Switch Scene

"What have you done!" Makoto, or rather Sailor Jupiter, demanded as she strode up to the trio of betrayers.

"It's none of your business what we do for the Kingdom." Uranus sneered at her in that superior way of hers. But her façade wasn't complete for she kept on glancing at where the portal had been.

"I told you guys to leave him alone!" Sailor Moon yelled as she ran up to Tuxedo Kamen and got in his face. "What did you do that for! Why didn't you listen to me? Why did you do that…?" Moon said as she broke down crying and began to beat on Tuxedo Kamen's chest.

"His being here was putting the Moon Kingdom at risk; we had to get rid of him." Tuxedo Kamen replied as he took the beating. This was the one thing he really hadn't liked about the plan. The chance that Usagi would find out. She was way too soft for her own good, and got attached to people way too easily.

"Where'd they get sent to?" Mercury demanded as she began to scan the area in hopes of getting some readings that she could use to get Joram and Hotaru back.

"In the space between dimensions." Neptune said bleakly. "Somewhere where it's impossible to come back from, or even to find the exact spot of again." By the time she finished what she'd had to say she was on her knees and weeping, repeating Hotaru's name over and over again. Even Tuxedo Kamen looked a little shaken at the fact Hotaru had vanished along with Joram.

Jupiter looked as though she really wanted to kill something, Venus just looked stunned and Mars just couldn't wrap her mind around what had just happened. Joram was gone and so was Hotaru all because the Outers couldn't let go of a stupid grudge!

"Are you saying that you basically killed Joram and Hotaru?" Asuza asked in a dead calm voice as she approached, her head bowed forward slightly so that her silver hair hid her face.

"It was just supposed to be Joram!" Neptune wailed from where she sat.

"Hotaru wasn't supposed to be involved." Tuxedo Kamen said as he continued to be beat upon by Sailor Moon.

"That doesn't change what you did." Asuza said as she stopped a couple of yards from the trio of aggressors.

"Don't worry Sakura, we'll figure something out. We'll find them." Sailor Mercury said as she continued to scan the area, hoping that she'd find something soon to back up her words.

"Not between the dimensions like that you won't." Pluto said from behind the group. "I don't even think that I could find them where they are at."

Asuza spun to confront the new Scout. This one looked older than the rest. "So you were the one who opened the portal, were you?" Asuza practically spat as she talked. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes had just changed colour. They were now red, with a couple of flecks of black in them.

This took Pluto back a moment before she composed herself once again. "I have nothing against you young lady, so just leave and never speak of this to anyone." Pluto said in her most commanding voice, at tone that always got her what she wanted. Not this time though.

"Like hell I will." Asuza spat and dashed forward. Everyone present was stunned, including Pluto. Which was why she took a powerful upper cut to the jaw without moving to defend herself.

As she sailed through the air she wondered what had hit her. Her brain finally came to the conclusion that that silver haired little trollop had hit her. This in turn infuriated Pluto, so by the time she hit ground several seconds later she was ready for it and rolled with the landing so that she came to her feet moments later.

"How dare you hit me! I'll teach you to show proper respect to your superiors!" Pluto shouted as she dashed forward, summoning her Time staff to her hand just as she swung to hit that Sakura girl.

It was a perfect swing that would have knocked her head off had Asuza not held out a hand and stopped it dead with a loud smack.

"All right, class starts now." Asuza said as she side kicks Pluto in the ribs and sends her flying into a tree with the sound of breaking ribs.

Switch Scene

It was simply marvellous! He couldn't have planned it better. Not only had that Time witch and her cronies taken care of Joram, but the most powerful Sailor Senshi had been sucked into that portal as well! What a good day this was turning out to be. What more could he ask for?

But oh! Look at that! Joram's little girlfriend is now going to take care of the lose end, said lose end being the witch. Oh, this was getting better by the moment!

"Hanataro! Bring me some popcorn and beer! I want to enjoy this fight to the fullest!" The man behind the large desk yells through his intercom. "Ah, how sweet this will be to watch."

Switch Scene

"Come on Joram, where are you?" Sailor Moon said as she began to rub the bronze dragon bracelet that Joram had given her. "Come on Joram, I need your help!" She said frantically, but nothing seemed to happen. Then she remembered that Joram had told her to use a name, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what it was!

Sailor Moon looked up for a moment at the chaos in front of her. Sakura had knocked Pluto out cold with that kick of hers. Fortunately, or could it be unfortunately, the other Outers had hopped into action to make sure that Sakura hadn't finished Pluto off. Tuxedo Kamen had even joined the fight, but she still couldn't tell which way it would go. At first she thought it would end quickly, and painfully, for Sakura but as she watched that woman fight she was astounded.

Not only was Sakura able to dodge their attacks, but she was able to make a counter attack every now and then. Now none of the four were looking very good at the moment, but that was to be expected in a fight like this. And for some reason she kept on muttering to herself that she could "see". To Sailor Moon that made absolutely no sense at all. Of course she could see, or how would she be fighting as effectively as she was?

Pat.

Sailor Moon looked up as another raindrop landed on her face. It was then that she realized that a thick blanket of clouds had crept up during the fight and were now going to release their load on the horrid scene below. Sailor Moon once again turned to the fight when she heard Neptune cry out her "DEEP SUBMERGE" attack in a victorious tone of voice. The other Senshi looked on in horror as the attack flew true towards Sakura, who only held out a hand as though she could stop the devastating attack with such a small gesture.

Everyone gasped as the attack landed but failed to do what it was supposed to do. Instead it looked as though Sakura had somehow managed to… absorb the attack into her fist. They all watched in a daze as Sakura spun with the momentum of the attack and backhanded a Sailor Uranus, who looked as though she were going to attack from behind, squarely in the chest and seemed to release the stored up energy. The impact sent the arrogant Outer Senshi flying across the yard to slam into the same wall Joram had those many days ago. And like Joram before her, she shattered the wall and was stopped by one of the larger trees in the area.

To Sailor Moon, it looked as though this warrior in front of her would be truly born during this battle in the storm that was coming.

That thought froze her in her tracks. "Find Stormborn!" Sailor Moon cried as she once again rubbed the bronze dragon bracelet she'd received from Joram. To her astonishment the thing seemed to come to life on her arm. It seemed to grow longer as it circled her arm higher and higher until it got to her shoulder and it's head seemed to regard her for a moment, then said: "At once Princess" and disappeared with no further adieu.

Sailor Moon stood there in shock for a moment then did the most reasonable thing she could think of; she fainted.

Switch Scene

"Ahhhh, I haven't seen something like that since I left home." The man behind the desk muses as he watches the fight. "I had thought that that special bloodline had died out millennia ago…." There is a metallic click as the man touches his left hand to the metal mask that covers the left half of his face. "I'll have to do something about this…. Personally." With that said he stands up and takes his suit jacket off and hangs it up on the coat stand in the corner of the room. He stares outside at his spectacular view, much better than the one he'd had in his old tower, and sighs. He hadn't had to do something like this since he'd started up his multinational company.

He then reached over with his right hand and places his palm on a plain steel plate on the wall. His hand glows briefly and then a section of wall pulls in several feet then slides off to the right. Through this new opening one could see a short stairwell leading to an iron bound door with many runes inscribed on it. After touching another similarly blank steel plate on the wall this door opens, he steps through into the eerie green light and the door closes behind him.

Switch Scene

Sailor Jupiter couldn't believe that Sakura had managed to do as well as she had during this overbalanced fight. Not only had she managed to knock Pluto out cold, and probably did some nasty damage to her in the process, but she had also managed to take out the best fighter the Sailor Senshi had.

Where Joram had been a subtle breeze in the way he fought, Sakura was like unto a hurricane; terrible and destructive. Joram was very good at what he did and fought with precision. Sakura on the other hand almost solely relied on her strength and dexterity; neither of the two being negligible in the least.

But Sakura was being worn down by the combined efforts of Sailor Neptune and Tuxedo Kamen. It looked as though Sakura's right arm had been horribly broken in a couple of places and she was bleeding from numerous cuts and lacerations all about her person. But still she fought with the tenacity of a cornered wolverine, never backing down and biting back where she could.

Makoto wanted to cry as she watched it all. Throughout the entire fight Sakura had worn an expression of utmost sorrow and despair. It was heart wrenching to watch as she tried so hard to beat the ones responsible for her anguish and yet fall short.

Makoto winced as she saw Sailor Neptune deliver a nasty kick upside Sakura's head that sent her flying over to Tuxedo Kamen who then used the ball of his cane, who knew when he'd retrieved the thing, to drive the wind out of her then back handed her so that she fell to the ground and bounced once before laying still.

"Enough." Makoto turned her head so that she could see who had spoken and was surprised to see Rei's grandfather weeping silently as he stood by the entrance to the temple. He looked as though his heart would burst. "Enough of this senseless beating."

"Have you seen what she's done to Sailor Uranus!" Sailor Neptune yelled right back at the old man.

"Have you seen what she's done to Sailor Pluto?" Tuxedo Kamen asked coldly. "We cannot allow an enemy of the Sailor Senshi to continue on in their evil ways. We must stop it where we can and how we can."

"What are you talking about! She only attacked you because you… you…." Sailor Venus said, but couldn't finish due to the large lump in her throat.

"Because you all sent Joram and Hotaru off to some unknown dimension to die!" Sailor Mars yelled hotly. "If the Kingdom weren't at stake, I'd finish you both off now!" Even Rei seemed to have been effected by the recent events to the extent that it looked as though she might have tears in her eyes.

"What are you saying!" Sailor Mercury demanded from an unconscious Sailor Moon's side. "The Kingdom is already in shambles! What you all have done today is high treason! You've deliberately disobeyed direct orders from you princess to leave Joram alone, and now look what has happened! Not only has Joram been sent to a place between dimensions, but you've consigned Hotaru to the same fate!"

Sailor Mercury paused a moment as Sailor Moon's eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Ami as though wondering what she were doing there but then comprehension seemed to dawn on her and she sat up so fast she nearly head-butted Ami before she could get out of the way.

"Where did it go!" She demanded as she searched about frantically.

"Where did what go?" Sailor Mercury asked gently, not wanting to further confuse her princess.

"My dragon bracelet! It turned into a dragon then disappeared. Where did he go?" Sailor Moon explained frantically, trying very hard not to panic.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen it." Sailor Mercury said in as consoling a tone as she could muster. "I'm sure that we'll find it. Don't worry."

"You don't understand! Joram said to use it in an emergency, and I did. But it disappeared!"

Sailor Mercury was about to reply but a dull cracking sound interrupted her. Everyone looked over to the side, just off to Ami's right, and saw something none of them had ever seen before. It was a dragon.

"I'm sorry Princess, but I cannot locate the Stormborn anywhere." The dragon the size of the temple said as it regarded Sailor Moon.

"What do you mean you can't find him! He said that you could find him and that he would come as soon as possible. He said so…." Sailor Moon said as she began to tear up. "I want him and Hotaru to come back to make things better again."

"I'm afraid that that won't be possible Princess of the Moon," said an unfamiliar voice from near the stairs leading to the street. Every looked at the newcomer with a mixed variety of expressions. Tuxedo Kamen looked on the verge of attacking the man with the half a face mask on. Sailor Neptune seemed to be on guard; Sailor Venus unsure; Sailor Jupiter as though she were going to attack; Sailor Mars as though she wanted to protect her princess, but not sure if the newcomer was an ally or foe. Rei's grandfather had several charms in hand and looked as though he were about to use them. "For Joram the warrior was sent to the place between worlds where none have returned to tell the tale. Not even his Goddess will be able to find him there." Said the unnamed stranger as he began to laugh in a deep baritone voice.

"And I could not have arranged this more perfectly even had I known the future." Said the tall man in the mask. He was dressed in a large cloak and robes intricately embroidered in arcane symbols and had a large staff that was topped with a green glowing stone of some sort. "You see, that time witch over there has proven an invaluable tool in getting rid of that accursed man. And now you two have weakened that special bloodline inheritor enough that I can take care of her myself." Again he laughed in that deep baritone voice of his. As he laughed the rain really started to come down in earnest.

"What do you mean, tool?" Sailor Neptune demanded from where she stood, now looking more prone to attacking the newcomer.

"What do I mean? Exactly what is said; I have used you all to dispose of someone far more dangerous to this world than you could imagine. And now I'll personally dispose of yet another threat without further delay." He said as he pulled out a small vial from one of many pouches at his waist. It looked as though it were filled with some sort of glowing silvery metal that sparkled and shone like the stars.

"Like I'd let you!" Sailor Jupiter yelled as she took up an offensive stance. "JUPITER OAK REVOLUTION!" She cried as her most powerful attack charged up then shot at the new enemy before them.

Everyone's heart seemed to stop as the lightning attack hit some sort of barrier and seemed to be sucked right up.

"Not so hasty Jupiter, I've got a nice surprise for you all." The man in the mask said in a terrible tone of voice. "I'll have you all feel the kind of pain I felt when I was thrown into your time! Then, and only then, will I consider killing you all. Time Stop!"

Everyone in the area, save the masked man of course, seemed to freeze where they were. "This will be a pleasure." The tall man said as he grinned a most evil grin. "Symbol of Pain!"

Switch Scene

"You what!" Akane demanded because she wasn't quite sure she'd heard her sister quite right.

"I said that I've hired a world famous chef to teach you how to cook." Nabiki explained at though her sister was slow in the head.

"I heard what you said, but why? My cooking seems to have improved! You all ate it last night and are feeling fine today." Akane argued, and rightly so. She'd really been practicing hard and now her efforts were paying off.

"But it isn't yet consistent little sister. That's why I've hired a chef to teach you how to cook."

"I don't need his help." Akane said stubbornly.

"Well, you don't have a choice. He'll be flying in from Sweden on Tuesday, so you'd better take his lessons seriously! His fees aren't cheap, and if you waste this opportunity, I'll see to it that you pay me back every yen I spent on getting him here." The Ice Queen stated with all finality as she got up and headed to her room.

"Gwooo…." Ranma shuddered. "Guess you'd better not waste this opportunity Akane, you know how serious she is when it comes to money." Ranma said from his place on the back porch where he was playing a game of shogi with Mr Tendo.

"Are you saying that my cooking's bad too!" Akane demanded, now starting to glow a dull red.

Ranma, just then, had an exceedingly rare moment of clarity and wisdom. "There is always room for improvement in this life. We must always take the opportunities placed before us so that we may learn and improve during this short life that we have." Not only did Akane blink at him, but so did everyone else who was within earshot of the conversation. Ranma himself seemed particularly stunned, not entirely sure where that bout of wisdom had come from, but nonetheless glad it had indeed come just then.

'Guess it's all the shogi I've been playing with Mr Tendo since dad went AWOL.' Ranma thought to himself with a shudder.

End of Chapter

A.N.- Sorry for the huge delay in coming out with this chapter, I've been ungodly busy and have only just found the time to finish up this chapter. I'll try and get another chapter out soon…. Hopefully it won't take anywhere as long as this one took me…. Gah.

For all those wondering at the "inconsistencies" in the Ranma/Sailor Moon plot lines, well, I've taken a little bit of creative liberty with the story. This just makes it smoother. I'm not so good a writer as to be able to reproduce original quality interactions between characters, so I'm doing it in my own way. Hopefully not too many of you will come to hunt me down….

-As per spell in D&D.

No, the villain doesn't have a name yet, but I'm working on it….. Sorry.

What happened to Joram and Hotaru? What sort of things will this Evil Wizard do to the Senshi and Asuza! Who was hired to try and train Akane how to cook! Well, you'll see next chapter.

Thank you to all those who've written a review so far, it's been helpful!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

At the foot of the hill leading to the shrine.

"What do you suppose is going on up there honey?" A passing lady asks her boyfriend as she huddles closer when the screams continue.

"I don't know, but let's just keep on going." The man says as he wraps his arm further around his girlfriend and hurries along. He couldn't see anyone else around and didn't want what was happening to the people on the hill to happen to them.

He… he…. He looked around and wondered what he'd been thinking, but just shrugged it off as one of those thoughts that gets lost along the way to consciousness.

"Let's go get some tea honey." His girlfriend suggested as they walked.

"Sounds like a good idea dear."

Up above the hill many, many ravens and crows can be seen circling the area above the temple.

Switch Scene

"Where are we?" Hotaru asked as she looked around the unfamiliar landscape. It looked as though they had been teleported to somewhere in the mountains. The flora in the area looked somewhat familiar, but there were also many plants that she didn't recognize. For that matter, she didn't recognize several of the birds that had flown by a moment ago.

"Oh, this is great!!" Joram exclaimed as he danced a jig. "This couldn't have turned out better!"

"What are you talking about?" Hotaru asked, not understanding what Joram was talking about. How could they being in the middle of the wilderness be a good thing?

"I was wondering if this place was still around…." Joram said to himself with a look of remembrance on his face. "Who would've guessed that it was still around and doing so well?" Joram seemed pleased beyond measure.

"Where are we!?" Hotaru finally demanded after several attempts to get his attention. Joram turned and regarded her for a moment with a twinkle in his eye.

"We're in Dovainia, my pocket realm." With that said Joram looked over to what looked like a crystal spider with a body the size of a large American orange and grinned. "Long time no see."

Switch Scene

Through the curtains of excruciating pain she could still manage to see the large dragon that she'd summoned to find Joram, and she was sorry for it. The dragon, it seemed, was also susceptible to this horrific spell that that evil mage had cast on them. She managed to look over a bit to the right and saw that Neptune and Tuxedo Kamen were also under the spell.

Sailor Moon looked up and over to the mage in question and looked on as he laughed. Well, she assumed he was laughing by the way his mouth was moving and his chest was heaving. She really couldn't hear anything beyond the roar in her ears and the loud screaming, hers included.

When was this going to end?

Switch Scene

"So Sailor Pluto sent us to your pocket realm?" Hotaru asked in confusion.

"What?" Joram turned from the crystal spider for a moment. "Oh, no. I did that. You see the portal that was opened led to the astral plane, I just kind of redirected it to this place."

"Who is this human master?" Hotaru looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anyone around. That kind of scared her, so she stepped closer to Joram for protection.

"What? Oh. This is my little sister, Hotaru." Joram said as he patted said girl on the shoulder. "Hotaru this is my little friend-" Joram was saying, but was cut off by someone entering their little clearing.

"Who are you?" The stranger asked as he stopped a good twenty feet away. The person was wearing a cloth mask over the lower portion of his face and a bandana to cover his hair, along with clothing in black and varying shades of grey.

"You're the rude one, you introduce yourself first." Joram said indignantly. This was his home after all. Joram looked down to his crystal friend with an amused look and formed a mind link with it.

For a response from the stranger, he just pulled out several kunai and held them at the ready.

'So, who is this guy?' Joram sent to the crystal.

'He is a scout.' The crystal sent back.

'That's obvious, but for who?'

'The clan just to the north about a mile or so.'

Joram had to suppress a sigh. The habit of giving minimal answers hadn't really changed for his friend over the years. Unfortunately Joram's conversation was interrupted by a kunai flying past his head. That irked him.

"Are you really wanting to die that much?" Joram asked the offender as he looked at him from the corner of his eye. As he was doing such Joram activated one of his better defense jutsu.

The man looked as though he might flee, but to his credit he didn't. Unfortunately he did something worse.

"Eliminate them!" He called out and suddenly there were kunai flying at them from every direction. Joram sensed the presence of fifteen hidden people all around them, all with the intent of killing. Hotaru fainted dead away so that made things a little easier for Joram, or quieter, if you will.

Just as he'd planned, his jutsu stopped all incoming attacks as though they'd been caught up in the air itself, for indeed they had. As the man in front of him saw this a look of terror could be seen rearing in his eyes. Joram could feel panic surging at the borders of the man's restraint.

Joram then activated another jutsu that caught and held everyone in the vicinity by stretching his shadow out and latching it onto all those present and hiding. "Now, if you all don't want to die right away, tell me who you are."

"Never." The man in front of him said through clenched teeth, for he couldn't even move his mouth. About the only thing that wasn't affected were his eyes. He could still blink.

"So be it." Joram said as he was preparing another jutsu.

"Hold master." Joram's little friend said out loud. That caused both Joram and the man in front of him to blink. "I do not think the current Hokage would be pleased if these squads were to perish."

"Hokage?" Joram asked in disbelief. What was he talking about?

"The village of Konoha had relocated here for protection's sake after you disappeared those many years ago." The crystal explained in his usual instructional tone when it had the chance to explain anything. "They have been using this place as their home ever since."

"Jirin sama, you know this man?" The man held in front of them asked in a tone of disbelief and shock.

"Yes, for he is my master." Jirin replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well then," Joram said as he released the binding jutsu. "Let's go talk to this Hokage of yours." With that said Joram crouched down and gathered Hotaru up in his arms and followed the stunned man in front of him.

'Jirin?' Joram called out with his mind to his not so little crystal.

'What is it master?' The thing replied as it climbed its way up and around Joram's body to rest on his shoulder.

'Tell me; what has happened in here since I… left.'

Joram expected a somewhat short and boring explanation of the events that had passed in his departure those many years ago, but instead he got a very long and detailed account of things past. Joram was shocked to learn of the hundreds upon hundreds of wars that had been fought in his home by the numerous races occupying the small planet. Then there was the issue of the time stream.

'So you're telling me that for every week inside just one hour passes outside?!' Joram demanded, completely shocked. When he had created this place when he was younger he had purposely made it so that time passed more quickly in the pocket realm, but that was only a two to one ratio. Two days inside equalled one day outside. What was happening to the place if time was flowing even more quickly than ever?

'That is exactly what I'm telling you master.'

'So then tell me, when did the variation start to increase?'

'That is a relative question master.' Jirin replied in a rather dry tone of voice, but gave over at a glance from Joram. 'From what I can calculate from outside chronology, this variance began approximately ten thousand years ago. For some reason in the past three or so years, the variation has increased drastically. From near as I can tell, the entire realm is sliding further and further into the time stream.'

'Well isn't that just brilliant?' Joram asked sarcastically as he tried to think very fast.

'Need I even mention what might occur if we entered the center of the time stream?'

'Don't bother; I've got enough problems that need looking after.' Joram sent back as he tried his hardest to remember something Katreen had mentioned in her brief explanation of history when they'd finally met again after so long apart. It had something to do with time, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. There wasn't anything he could do about in right then, so he dismissed it from his thoughts.

Joram marvelled at how large his little world had grown since he'd been gone. It was absolutely amazing to say the least. When he'd originally created the place it'd only been a scant few hundred feet across, now it was about half the size of earth. He just couldn't believe it. He grinned. He wondered who else had taken up residence in his home.

The houses and other structures here were of a unique design. They looked like a cross between the houses from his time and the buildings of Japan. One big difference though was the lack of cars. That disappointed him somewhat, but not terribly. He'd get a chance to take one of them apart when he got back to Japan.

'How much farther to the Hokage's place?'

'It is that large building up there.' Jirin sent as he motioned with a spider like leg made of ectoplasm. 'I'm sure Hokage-sama will be thrilled to meet you.'

'How long has the Hokage known that I'm here?' Joram asked as he regarded the crystal spider on his shoulder.

'I would say that she knew of your arrival about one second after I did.' Jirin replied, sounding quite smug about it.

"You do realize that I'm going to hurt you now, don't you?" Joram growled out loud enough that a couple of passers-by skittered to the edge of the road and regarded him fearfully. His escort didn't seem too pleased with him either for that matter.

'You've always had a hard time keeping a conversation private, haven't you?' Jirin sent with the image of a person shaking their head in disappointment.

'You know, I might just re-integrate your personality one of these days….' Joram gave the mental equivalent of a grumble as he sent the thought along. That seemed to quiet him for a time. So Joram took the opportunity to once again check on Hotaru.

She seemed to be sleeping quite contentedly with her head nestled on his chest. Taking a closer look he noticed that there was a wet spot forming on his chest right at the corner of her mouth. Joram sighed. He'd have to get that dried before anyone saw it.

The Hokage's building was much larger than all the others around it, but not really constructed much differently than the rest; it was just built on a larger scale. Joram shook his head as he managed to spot seven sentries that were supposed to be hidden. Or maybe they were the ones that were supposed to be seen while the real guards were in all actuality hidden so well the not even he could see them…. So Joram waved and just about laughed as the "hidden" guards just about fell from their hiding spots in shock. Maybe he was giving them too much credit.

"That wasn't very nice you know. They really are trying their best not to be seen." Jirin piped up.

"Then why could I see them plain as day?" Joram asked as he climbed the stairs behind his guide.

"May I speak plainly?" Jirin asked in a tone that seemed almost… amused. Joram nodded. "You aren't normal master." Joram tripped on the next stair and had to buckle his left leg and raise his right leg just a bit more so that he would land on his shins instead of on Hotaru. It was a painful, yet worthwhile, exchange though.

"As subtle as ever…." Joram grumbled as Hotaru began to stir due to the excess jostling.

"But I don't want to go to school Haruka-papa…." She mumbled out as she dug her head further into his shoulder like it was a pillow. Unfortunately for her Joram's shoulder wasn't the consistency of a pillow; it was more like a rock. Needless to say; Hotaru woke up even faster after she felt as though her head had ground against a rock.

"What? Where am I?" She asked sleepily while rubbing her forehead.

"Ah, we're a village called Konoha." Joram replied as he continued to climb the stairs. Then Jirin piped in from Joram's shoulder.

"Yes, this village in particular has only been around for one hundred and three years." Gazing up at the source of the talking, Hotaru could just blink.

"Is that crystal talking to me?" Was about all she could think of to say.

"Yes, and he's somewhat boring so don't feel bad if you ignore him." Joram said as he continued to climb the stairs.

"Oh please master, you've been gone over two hundred thousand years; is there any wonder that I've taken on a few bad habits?" Jirin demanded indignantly from his perch on Joram's shoulder.

"Anyway, we should be arriving at Hokage-sama's office shortly." Joram said as he continued walking up the stairs with Hotaru in his arms.

Switch Scene

Sailor Pluto could not quite stop screaming. Ever since she'd woken up to the sounds of her friends screaming and looked down at the symbol drawn on the dirt in some sort of quicksilver, she had been in pain. She knew that she should be able to get past the pain and do something, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself from screaming her voice ragged. She couldn't even manage to lose consciousness to escape from the horrible pain. What was worse, she could have sworn that he'd cast another spell or two while he was standing there.

For a blessed moment she could have sworn she was going to black out, but she was then brought back by what seemed to be a slap on the face. How she could tell it was a slap she did not know for her nerves felt as though they had been bathed in acid. But she looked up anyway and tried to focus her eyes through the torrents of pain and water and found that she was looking at a pretty lady in a black dress.

It took her a moment to realize that she'd seen this lady before and yet a few more moments to realize that it was Katreen. Her mind reeled at what this could mean, but her body could do nothing. She felt as weak as a newborn kitten and about as helpless.

'This is what happens when you don't listen. This is what I'm going to allow to happen to you and your friends for doing what I'd forbidden.'

Sailor Pluto was at a complete loss and could only think in broken bits. 'The others… had… nothing to… do… with what… happened…. Let them… go!'

'What makes you think I am the one that called him here?' Sailor Pluto could hear the contempt even in her thoughts. 'He came only because of what you did. Had Joram and Hotaru not been… sent away, he would not have come. This is your fault.' Katreen sent back as she waved her hand. From the corner of her eye, Sailor Pluto watched as the Time Staff slowly disappeared into nothingness. 'You won't need that anymore Meiou Setsuna.' And then she too disappeared slowly like mist in the morning. Setsuna howled like a soul damned to the lowest depths of hell.

Switch Scene

"So that is why we are here Hokage." Joram said as he once again relaxed in his chair. They'd been there a good hour and a half explaining and re-explaining things to the current Hokage, a man in his late twenties who just didn't seem to get all the dimensional babble Joram was spewing forth. Then again the only other being in the room that actually did understand what he was talking about was Jirin, and he was nearly as old as Joram.

"So you're telling me that someone opened a portal with the intention of killing you and you just managed to redirect the destination of the portal to save you and your girlfriend." The Hokage tried to sum up, and did fairly well seeing how confused he was an hour ago, but botched up the Joram/Hotaru relationship. Hotaru blushed quite cutely, but Joram didn't look all that pleased.

"Basically." Was all Joram trusted himself to say at that moment.

"Ok, that explains why you're here, but when are you going to leave?" The Hokage asked rather bluntly as he leaned forward to regard them from across his big table. It was a little hard to take him all that seriously with his short blonde hair all messed up and the fact that he seemed to have missed shaving precisely three whiskers on each cheek.

"I don't plan on leaving for a few weeks at least." Joram said quite simply and was rewarded with a glare from the Hokage, not to mention the lady with pink hair standing beside him. It looked as though she wanted to hit something. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Hotaru couldn't quite figure out who she wanted to hit, Joram or the Hokage. Either one was a bad idea in her books. From what Joram had told her just before they had entered this office, the Hokage was the strongest shinobi of the village.

"What makes you think I'll let you stay?" The Hokage asked quietly from behind his desk as he regarded Joram with a not so nice look on his face.

"Quite frankly I don't care if you like me being here or not. I've got three things I need to do while I'm here, and I don't intend on leaving before I get them done." Joram said as he rested his elbows on the arms of his chair then steepled his fingers in front of his face. The Hokage was getting redder by the word. "I came here as a courtesy and nothing more. I've business that needs be taken care of."

To say the Hokage looked livid would have been understating how angry he was. The pink haired lady seemed on the verge of saying something but was interrupted by Jirin.

"Master, need we bicker like this? I'm sure we can all come to a nice compromise here. Hokage, Naruto, why try and make him leave? This is, after all, his horizon realm that he created. True he's neglected it for some time now," insert glare from Joram, "but he may be able to get to the root of the problem we've been contemplating for some time now."

The Hokage looked as though he had eaten something that had gone bad a week ago, but managed to sound civil none the less. "What is it that you need to do while here?"

"One; train Hotaru here. Two; make a sword. Three; figure out what is causing this demi-plain to slide further and further into the time stream." Joram said while raising a finger for each point. "I may not have the resources available to anchor the plain before it's too late, but I sure as hell need to do the first two items. Worse comes to worst, everyone will have to relocate to the prime material plain."

"I'd really rather we didn't have to do that." The Hokage replied in a tight voice then took a deep breath. "I'm sure I can find a forge for you to use, and even somewhere out of the way for you to train Hotaru-chan here, but I have no idea how to anchor this world."

"Just leave that one to me." Joram said with his usual confidence.

Switch Scene

Katreen was very, very angry. She hadn't let her anger out at the mortal Meiou Setsuna, but she had really wanted to. To think that a mortal could be so stupid….

Katreen couldn't help but laugh at that thought. Mortals had been that stupid in the past and would continue to be that stupid in the future. They were just made that way. Somewhat like that Jester way back in the day….

Katreen shook her head to rid herself of that thought and continued walking through the grey void that surrounded the gates of time. This realm wasn't entirely unlike her own. Whichever direction one chose to walk, one would always end up at its center; as she found herself now.

Katreen had to smile as she worked at unlocking the Gates of Time. Well, not truly unlocking them; that would be silly. What she was doing was reviewing Time at the shrine, then reviewing Meiou Setsuna's actions that led up to Joram and Hotaru being banished. While viewing the "record", as some would call it, Katreen suddenly began to smile. She hadn't smiled this broadly since she'd once again found Joram. She was smiling because she'd managed to do a second time in the past couple of weeks what she hadn't been able to accomplish for the past couple hundred thousand years: she'd found Joram.

Switch Scene

"Ranma, please tell me again why we're going to Rei's shrine this early in the morning on a Sunday?" Akane asked around another yawn. She really wasn't used to being up this early on a Sunday. She usually enjoyed sleeping in, but it was just going on nine o'clock.

Sigh. "I agreed to train Sakura-san. I just wanted to get a start on it as soon as I could. No need to put it off." Ranma tried to explain patiently, but it came off as being slightly peevish. He really didn't like repeating himself so much, especially in the morning. Without the old man there to wake him up every morning with some sort of underhanded attack, Ranma was beginning to fear that he was getting soft for lack of practice. He wasn't about to admit that to Akane though.

"Tell me again why we're walking there?" Akane asked, this time annoyed.

"I, ah, well…." Ranma really couldn't think of anything to say, so the truth came out. "I'm broke."

"Two districts away and we're walking." Akane said as she shook her head. "At least this'll give us some time to talk."

"About what?" Ranma asked as casually as he could even though alarms were going off in his head.

"Do you really think it's a good idea for everyone to go to China with Joram? I mean, we hardly know the guy." Akane said as she walked with her fiancé and stared up at the sky. It looked as though it would rain.

"Personally, I don't know. Nabiki seems to like having him around, but that's probably just because he's an easy target. The old letch and the old ghoul seem wary of him, but they get that way any time they come across anything they can't either figure out or beat the snot out of." Ranma said as a way of putting off actually answering the question. Akane saw right through it though.

"I know about them, but what about you? Do you trust the guy?" Akane asked genuinely concerned. She didn't want anything to take Ranma away from her while they seemed to have this tenuous understanding of one another.

"He saved my life." Ranma said simply. "He could have saved his own, or rather the pain, by just letting me take the hit, but he didn't. He took it, and that says something about a guy." Ranma didn't know too many people who'd do the same, much less for a stranger that was trying to beat the crap out of you.

"True enough," Akane mused, "but the guy just seems so..." Akane tried to find the right word but was having difficulties pinning it down.

"Mysterious, aloof, confident, inattentive, intimidating...?" Ranma offered.

"Kind." Akane concluded. "I just haven't met someone so kind, but at the same time so cut and dry."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's hard to explain." Akane said as she furrowed her brow in thought. "I get the feeling that it would be a very bad thing if he were to get angry with me."

Ranma thought about it for a moment as he continued to walk alongside Akane. At length he said, "I think you're right. But I wouldn't worry about him; I'd worry about whoever it is that's after him. I don't know how those things were made or even how they got to the dojo, but I do know that you'd have to be very powerful to pull that kind of thing off."

"But if he just got here how could he have made such a powerful enemy so quickly?"

"I get the impression that he's one of those guys that you're either gonna love or hate, you know what I mean?" Ranma asked in as off handed a manner as he could.

Akane couldn't help but giggle at that statement which in turn caused Ranma to glance at her quizzically. Akane just waved his question away and they continued on in silence for a time enjoying the scenery as they went.

Akane couldn't quite believe how quiet a morning it was. No Ryouga smashing through the nearest wall, no Kuno slashing down random objects that just so happened to be behind Ranma, no Shampoo landing on poor Ranma with her bicycle just so that she could stun him long enough to glomp onto him, or any of the other random fools out there thinking they've got some sort of claim on him, or a bone to pick.

Thinking of all the other "fiancés" she'd had to deal with since Ranma had come into her life made her grind her teeth. She still couldn't believe that someone could be such a bad father.

Then the incident with Joram reared its ugly head in her mind. That whole encounter made no sense to her at all. When had that old coward grown himself a new spine, and for what? What happened that day went against everything she knew about Genma. He was a coward who only attacked when he was sure to win, or when he thought he'd win anyway.

It was almost like the time when that evil spirit had gone around possessing everyone, making them vandalize everything in sight. Except this time it was a whole lot more serious. Genma had been out for blood, and Akane was afraid of what might happen if Genma came around when Joram or the old master weren't around to stop him.

That thought made Akane pause. Joram must be the key. If the person that had tried to kill Joram couldn't do it, why not get someone else to do it for you? With that thought she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ranma?" Akane asked and only continued when Ranma turned to look at her. "I don't think Genma was acting of his own volition." She finished and started to chew her lower lip nervously.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked as he slowed down some and turned to face her a little more. It was plain as day that she had not only caught his attention, but had also sparked some hope in him.

"Well, have you ever known Genma to attack an unknown enemy before? Have you ever seen him use such obviously lethal techniques?" Akane paused then to let the significance of those two simple questions seep into Ranma's sometimes-too-thick head.

"Well, no. Now that you mention it he's only ever attacked with non-lethal techniques. Admittedly though, his regular techniques are really underhanded." Ranma then started to go over all the underhanded techniques his father had used over the years and wondered when Genma had had time to develop such a nasty and quite lethal technique as that.

"Well, here's what I think. The person after Joram is very powerful. He made go-lems" Akane still stumbled over that odd word, "to come after Joram. Those things were quite powerful in and of themselves. If that person is strong enough to make those things, what else do you think that person could pull off?" Akane asked as she watched Ranma to see if he caught on or not.

"So do you think that this person who's after Joram is behind my father's actions?" Ranma asked; hope obviously shining through in the question.

"I think that that might be the case." Akane said as she once again started to walk at the brisk pace they'd used when they'd left home earlier that morning. "If it is, then all we have to do is find whoever it is that's doing this and make him stop." Akane left off that they might have to do more than just trying to convince the person that's trying to kill Joram. Ranma seemed to come to that conclusion as well, and didn't look too happy about it. But she guessed that they'd have to do what they had to do to get Genma back.

All this was assuming that Genma was indeed being controlled by some third party.

It was mid-morning by the time the clouds rolled in and threatened rain. Akane was astonished that Ranma didn't seem to care. He must really be distracted by what she'd brought up to not seem to care that it might rain any second. Akane determined right then and there that she'd do all that she could to help get Genma back to normal. She just wasn't sure how she would be able to help with a situation like this.

It was as she was thus contemplating that the first of the rain drops hit her. As she looked up at the sky the rain increased tenfold and soon both looked like stunned drowned rats in the rain.

"Come on." Ranma-chan said as she grabbed Akane's arm and began to haul her towards the closest tea shop on the street, which unfortunately was at the end of the block that they'd just started on.

By the time they got to the tea shop both were soaked to the bone. Oddly enough though, Ranma-chan didn't seem all that perturbed at being soaked to the bone. It almost seemed that her reaction had been more reflex to get inside a place that sold hot liquids than conscious thought. That in and of itself had Akane a little worried. Sure she had the right to stew about the problem at hand, but the only times that she stewed this long were when she thought she had a very tough fight in front of her that she didn't think she could win.

"Let's get some tea and wait for the worst of the rain to ease up." Akane suggested as she tugged Ranma-chan over to an empty table by one of the windows.

After their tea, and an extra kettle of water, was ordered they sat in silence for some time. Akane began to fidget a little at about the second hour of sitting there sipping tea and eating tea biscuits.

"Ranma, why don't we head out? The rain's let up enough so that we could probably make it to the temple without catching a cold."

"Sure." Was all Ranma-chan said as she moved to grab the kettle. When she realized that the water had gone cold she only shrugged and got up. "Let's go Akane." Ranma-chan said as she dropped some money on the table and started for the door.

Akane was shocked. Ranma had actually not cared that the water had gone cold. That and the fact that she'd paid the bill. Hurrying to catch up Akane wondered if it had been a good idea to let Ranma in on her little theory. 'Well, nothing I can do about it now. Maybe she'll cheer up when it comes time to spar." Akane thought to herself as she walked along beside Ranma-chan in the light rain.

It was nearing noon by the time they were close enough to the hill to feel that something was definitely wrong. With a shared look of concern they both started to run.

Switch Scene

"Joram?"

Joram turned from what he was doing for a moment to see if it was really who he thought it was, and smiled. "Hello Katreen. I was wondering when you'd drop by." He said with that wonderful smile then turned back to his work. It had been three and a half weeks since he'd started re-forging the sword he'd made as a youth and he really wanted to get it finished so that he could return to the Prime Material Plane to give it back to Nodoka.

"Yes, it took me a little while to find you." Katreen said as she looked around and expanded her senses. "It seems that your little realm had grown quite a bit." Katreen said with a satisfied smile. He could do much with this realm.

"Yeah, I was kinda surprised to find out that it had been populated in my absence." Joram said as he continued to hammer at his sword, then said "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" under his breath and once again breathed fire onto the sword he was working to heat it back up enough so that he could continue working on the sword.

"Indeed. When will you return to the Prime Material Plane Joram? The Sailor Senshi need your help." Katreen asked as she watched him work. It was like watching one of the other gods work, it was so smooth and flawless.

"What do you mean?" Joram asked, concern entering his voice if not his posture. He continued to work and concentrate on what he was doing though.

"The mad wizard that has been hounding you has attacked the Senshi and Asuza in your stead. It seems as though he wishes to exterminate the Senshi and Asuza so that there will be little to no resistance for what he plans." Katreen said quite simply.

"I'm gonna have to find that beggar and give him what for." Joram said under his breath as continued his work. He just needed till the end of the day and it would be complete. "When did he attack them?"

"About three and a half hours ago on the Prime Material Plane. Here, I'd say about three and a half weeks ago."

This caused Joram to pause. "I can't leave yet Katreen." Joram said in a pained voice as he continued to hammer his sword. Thinking about the situation some more made him realize that the others must still be alive if she were telling him this. "Will you please send them some help?" Joram asked formally as he worked on the sword.

"Is that an official request?" Katreen asked with a small smile on her face as she walked around the other side of the anvil to look at him directly. It had been some time since he'd last asked for her help in this way.

"Indeed." Was all Joram said.

"Then so shall it be done." Katreen said as she began to fade away like mist in the morning.

'Jirin?' Joram sent to his old friend.

'What is it master?'

'Take Hotaru back to help her friends. I have a feeling that she will also be needed in this.'

'As you command my master.' Jirin sent then faded from Joram's senses.

"I hope I get there in time." Joram mumbled as he continued working.

Switch Scene

"I hear screaming." Akane said in a worried tone as they both ran towards the stairs leading to the temple.

"So do I." Ranma-chan said as she picked up speed, but then had to skid to a halt as a woman stepped in front of her. "Wadda'ya doin' lady?!" Ranma-chan exclaimed as she came to a stop mere inches from the lady in black.

"I'm here at the behest of a mutual friend." The woman in black said with a small smile.

"You're not one of Kodachi's friends are 'ya?" Ranma-chan asked suspiciously as she backed up a couple of steps to where Akane was standing.

"No, but she is a nice girl." The lady in black replied. "I'm just here to wish you the luck of the gods in your upcoming battle. If I were you I'd put on these items the Stormborn gave you." With that said she tossed the weird arm guards Joram had given her the other day and began to fade into mist.

"Who was she Ranma?" Akane asked as she continued to stare at the spot where the strange lady disappeared.

"I don't know, but we've gotta hurry!" Ranma-chan yelled as she once again took off at a dead run, breaking many Olympic records as she also slipped on the arm guards given to her by that strange lady. Akane just shook her head and tried her best to keep up, but soon found she was falling way behind.

As Ranma-chan came to the top of the stairs she had to pause and take in what she was seeing. Never before had she seen such an evil looking person. Not only that, but he seemed to be doing something that was causing all of the Sailor Senshi to scream feebly in pain and writhe on the ground. As she watched he did something weird and five bolts of energy shot forth, separated, and slammed into the five closest girls on the ground causing them to either whimper or shriek in pain. Ranma-chan winced as she noted the cuts and tears all over the Senshi, as well as the blood that seeped from many a wound on them.

"I don't know who you are, but you're gonna pay for hurting them like that!" Ranma-chan yelled as she dashed forward and in the blink of an eye was swinging a punch at the robed figure who was just now starting to turn around to see who had yelled.

Ranma-chan yelled out in shock as her punch seemed to collide with an invisible wall of steel.

"Another annoying insect to take care of." The robed figure said disdainfully as he, for now Ranma-chan could now see that it was indeed a man, began to chant in some strange language. Ranma-chan stood there shocked for a moment taking in the weird half mask the guy was wearing. Ranma-chan then took a quick look at her hand and was re-assured to see that the odd arm guard was undamaged. What was even better was the fact that her fist hadn't taken any damage. She then reprimanded herself for not remembering that these things seemed to absorb the damage from an impact on the inside of the guard.

The masked figure stopped chanting as the ground beside Ranma began to glow. "Good-bye insect." Was all the guy said as he once again turned his attention to the girls in front of him. Ranma-chan could only stare at the guy in shock, not even noticing the large bulge in the ground grow and form into a humanoid that stood over thirty feet tall.

Switch Scene

"Ranma, why do you have to always run ahead like that?" Akane asked herself as she made her way up the stairs. After such a long walk it was not as easy as it should have been and as a result Akane was puffing by the time she got to the top of the stairs and saw the macabre scene that now overlaid the temple grounds.

"Ranma!" Akane yelled as she watched a huge… monster of stone and earth take a swing at Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan seemed to either have heard the warning or knew it would be coming because she dodged to the right at the last second to avoid the powerful swing. So powerful it was that it seemed as though the earth rippled out in a ring similar to that of a stone landing in a pond. Unfortunately it didn't seem as though Ranma-chan was ready for that small wave of stone and it knocked her prone. Akane was further from it and as a result was able to hurdle the wave and make her way closer to the fight.

The hooded figure on the other hand didn't seem to care about what was happening behind him, and in fact didn't seem to be affected by the wave of stone in the least. That made Akane a little nervous. If this fellow could just ignore something that knocked Ranma-chan over they were in a bit of trouble. So Akane did what she thought was best and ran to the other side of the monstrosity attacking Ranma so that she could distract it enough so that Ranma could more easily take it down. That was _if_ he could take it down.

Switch Scene

Ranma couldn't believe how tough this thing really was. He was used to being able to punch through stone, if not quite as well as Ryouga, but still being able to punch through stone. This thing seemed much harder than stone though.

Dodge.

And much faster than it looked. For as much as she tried to dodge out of the way of the monster's blows she just couldn't manage to dodge them all and boy was it starting to hurt. The thing that really irked her was that the thing seemed to be… repairing as it fought. That annoyed Ranma-chan about as much as seeing the old letch get up after a sound beating and keep on going.

The monster in front of her wound up for another swing but as it came Ranma-chan saw that it wasn't aimed at her just a little too late. With a futile scream of rage and fear Ranma-chan watched as the monster slammed its car sized fist right into Akane's chest and sent her flying over the edge of the stairs that they'd come up just a minute ago.

Ranma-chan could only see red. Everything shrank down to her foe, narrowing her focus so much that the monster was the only thing she could see. Then she snapped. "Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken!!!" Ranma-chan yelled as she began to pummel the freak in front of her; the monster that had hurt Akane.

Switch Scene

The cloaked figure paused as he heard a primal scream of rage and turned to see what had made such a noise and was shocked to see that little red head pummelling chunks off his Earth Elemental at such speed that he couldn't even see her fists moving. That made him pause for a moment. This would require more of his attention than he'd originally anticipated.

The cloaked figure just shrugged as he took out a small metal object, and something else that he held pinched between two fingers, and began to cast another spell that would surely take care of this nuisance. The cloaked figure pointed at Ranma-chan as he yelled "Disintegrate!" A thin green ray shot out at Ranma-chan and hit her square in the back, and for a moment she glowed a dull green colour, then turned to dust, her clothes and the bracers falling to the ground along with the dust.

The masked man grinned and turned back to his work as he produced several things that glittered slightly in the diffuse light of the cloudy day. "Time to end this." He said as he once again began to chant.

Switch Scene

Usagi, or rather Sailor Moon, couldn't quite believe what she was seeing through her haze of pain. A red-headed girl she thought she recognized had tried to hit the evil man in front of them but couldn't. Even through her haze of pain Sailor Moon surely thought the punch connected, but it didn't seem to phase the evil man in the least.

That made her sad. She'd hoped that that girl could distract that man long enough that she and the others could join in the fight, but it seemed as though that girl couldn't even do that. Then the man turned and began to chant in that weird language and Sailor Moon wanted to yell at the girl to run away and save herself, but she couldn't find her voice, couldn't yell the warning she so dearly wanted to.

Then the evil man turned again to her and her friends and chanted another quick spell and some more of those hateful bolts of light burst out of his hand to once again strike them with enough force to knock her senseless for a time.

When she could once again concentrate trough the pain of the prolonged torture she saw a stone demon of some sort hit a blue haired girl so hard she went over the edge of the stairs. That made her want to weep, but then she realized she was already weeping and ground her teeth in frustration. What could she do? She and her friends were helpless on the ground being slowly killed by this evil man in his ridiculous mask. Even that poor dragon was suffering, and he had only been there to deliver a message. If she'd had any more tears to cry for those suffering she would have been weeping, but the only tears that she had were tears of pain.

Then the red headed newcomer snapped and seemed to blur at the edges so fast was she moving and hitting the stone demon. If Sailor Moon hadn't seen so many unbelievable things since Joram had shown up she would have discounted it as blurry vision form all her tears, but she was seeing what she was seeing and it was incredible. But then Sailor Moon wanted to cry out once again when the evil man once again turned his attention to the red-head. This time his chant was a lot shorter than the other one, but more terrible by far were the results.

A green ray shot out and hit the girl in the back, and like so many demons she had purified in the past, the red-head turned to dust before her eyes and crumbled to the ground with a small pile of scattering dust as her clothes fell to the ground as well.

Right then, right there, Usagi felt as though her heart were torn out and stepped upon by that stone demon and crushed to dust. "Nooooooo!!!" Usagi heard someone scream out hoarsely and realized it was her voice she was hearing over and over again.

The robed figure turned and regarded her as he took some items from one of the many pouches at his waist. "My dear, haven't you already guessed that I care nothing for what you think?" That baritone voice of his was really getting on her nerves. "I think that you all should join in my collection now."

Usagi was confused beyond all measure now. What was he talking about? What collection. But as the evil man in the mask once again began to chant she felt as though someone had run an ice cube down her spine and let it sit at the small of her back. Whatever was coming, it wasn't good. And she could do nothing to stop it.

Switch Scene

Akane couldn't believe how much pain she was in. Sure that stone monster was three stories tall, but she hadn't quite thought it would hurt so much to get hit by the thing. Of course tumbling down the stairs afterwards hadn't helped much either.

"Akane!!" Someone yelled from behind. Turning ever so slowly Akane saw that it was Ryouga who'd called out to her and was now rushing over, presumably to help.

"My god Akane, what happened?! You look as though you were hit by a bus!" With that said he made as though to get up to find said offending bus and give it what for, but Akane reached out and took his hand into her own.

"Ryouga, Ranma's in trouble. Please, help him." Was all Akane could get out before starting into a coughing fit that resulted in a little bit of red splatter on the ground beside her. Knowing that Ryouga would never leave her side if he thought her seriously hurt, she turned over slightly so that her arm covered the offending red spot on the sidewalk. "Hurry." She said with as bright a smile as she could muster. Ryouga fell for it.

"I'll do what I can." Ryouga said as he got up and started to head the wrong way. Akane caught his arm yet again, which caused Ryouga to blush like the sunset. "Up the stairs." She couldn't help but smile a little. Even when it was life and death the brute could still get lost walking out the front door, figuratively speaking of course.

With Ryouga running up the stairs Akane was able to lean herself against the retaining wall at the base of the stairs and rest for a moment before once again going into a violent coughing fit that left her hands red and her torso feeling as though Ryouga were giving her a bear hug. She just hoped someone with a cell phone would wander by soon. With the rain coming down she was getting colder by the moment.

Switch Scene

"Kuonji Ukyou you will come with me."

Ukyou turned around to see who this imperious sounding person was and had to pause a moment. There was something about the little lady in an old style European dress that made her think she should know her, but Ukyou couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Who are you?" Ukyou asked while settling into an easier stance. She didn't know who this lady was, or why she seemed familiar, but that didn't mean that she wasn't a possible threat.

"There is no time for playing around Kuonji Ukyou; you must come with me to settle your debt with the Stormborn." And suddenly the lady in black was standing beside her with her hand on Ukyou's wrist. "We leave now."

Suddenly the next thing Ukyou knew was that she was standing at the base of a long set of stone steps in the rain, and sitting propped up against the retaining wall was some girl who looked as though she'd been beaten by a gang of sumo wrestlers.

Ukyou looked around but she was all alone in the rain, the lady in black having already disappeared. With no one to question Ukyou quickly made her way over to the poor girl and gasped in shock. It was Akane.

"Oi, Akane!" Ukyou called out as she took Akane by the shoulders. No response. Ukyou quickly checked for a pulse and was glad that she could feel one, albeit a weak one. Ukyou once again looked around; this time more panicked, and wondered why the street was empty of pedestrians, let alone traffic.

'This isn't good.' Ukyou thought as she probed what wounds she could find. Ukyou couldn't believe Akane was still alive after the beating she'd taken. But she wouldn't be long for this world if Ukyou didn't hurry up and find some help for the poor girl.

With a sigh of regret, that her conscience wouldn't allow her to leave her major opponent in the battle over Ran-chan to lay there dying, Ukyou gently slid her arms under Akane as though she were the most fragile okonomiaki Ukyou had ever worked with and stood up.

"Now, where is the closest hospital?" Looking around was futile for the street was still quite inexplicably deserted. With a mental shrug Ukyou turned left.

Switch Scene

Ryouga couldn't quite believe just how huge the monster in front of him was. He'd faced many an enemy in his day, several of them twice his height and more, but this thing was three stories tall and just about as wide. What was worse though was that this thing wasn't anywhere as slow as it looked. And it was strong. Strong enough to have pounded him into the ground, with a two handed slam, like a tent spike.

Now he just had to figure out how to avoid the stomp coming at his head and he'd be all good. Out of reflex he closed his eyes just before the monster's foot connected, waited a moment, then opened his eyes again to see why he hadn't been stomped into a fine red paste and was shocked to see the stone monster frozen in place. Or rather, being pulled off balance by means of several chains wrapped around it. Ryouga blinked.

"Quit napping and give me a hand!" Mousse yelled from behind the stone monster.

Ryouga shook his head to clear it, realizing for the first time that he'd been stunned by that monster's awesome blow, and with a mighty heave and jump burst forth from the ground to land on his feet in front of the monster.

With a rare moment of insight, it occurred to Ryouga that it was probably this monster that had hurt Akane so badly, and with that insight came a fury so hot, so consuming that he could only think of one thing: destroying the monstrosity in front of him. With that all consuming thought, rage, fury, Ryouga went into a frenzy.

Switch Scene

Mouse was still quite afraid that the monster in front of him would squash the life out of him. After the initial pull on the chains that threw the monster off balance enough so that Ryouga wouldn't be flattened like so many bugs had been in the past, the monster broke the chains like they were threads. Then turned to Mousse.

It had been quite a while since Mousse had contemplated his own mortality, and he never quite liked the end result. So it was with much gratitude in his heart that Mousse thanked Ryouga for getting up out of the ground to once again pull the monster's attention to him. What Mousse hadn't expected was the sheer rage coming off Ryouga. True, Mouse had seen Ryouga's battle aura on several occasions, but this was like comparing a candle to a bonfire. It made him very much afraid, for usually Ryouga's aura was a black/green thing that seemed to have a life of it's own. Now, however, it was being flooded with a red the colour of blood.

Mousse could only stand and watch in morbid shock as Ryouga used his breaking point technique on the monster so fast, and with such fury, that the monster was quite literally being blown to dust, one cubic foot at a time. Within mere moments the monster began to crumble into smaller chunks of rock, quite dead.

Ryouga didn't stop. The largest of the boulders were the first to be dusted, then came the smaller rocks until there was nothing larger than a fist. But he wasn't done. Ryouga turned to the strange man in black who was once again turning to stare in shock at what was left of the monster, then to look up at Ryouga and mutter one word in shock. From what Mousse could make out from reading his lips it looked as though he said "berserker".

Switch Scene

When that girl had snapped he had thought he'd seen rage. The masked man was wrong. The word "berserker" slipped past his lips before he even knew it was on its way. No matter. Those who were foolish enough to lose themselves in battle always had a weakness. Just as the old man he continued to control, berserkers had next to no mental defences. This one would be much more effective than that old man. The man in the mask smiled once again as he began to chant.

Switch Scene

Hotaru almost threw up. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Never before had she seen the Sailors in such a state. She wanted to cry, but Joram had sent her on ahead to take care of what was happening, so she grit her teeth and kept her calm.

The day couldn't have been a better reflection of the events that were unfolding before here. The sky was thick with rain clouds making it seem as though it were evening, and a sporadic rain was falling.

Looking at her friends she spotted a very large dragon lying beside Sailor Moon and marvelled. Where had that come from? She then looked past her fallen friends and beheld the villain that was responsible for this travesty, and quite the villainous profile he had with that half mask and those black robes. Then she looked past the villain at someone, who at the moment looked much more terrifying, was a young man who was literally glowing with rage. The man in the mask didn't seem overly concerned though, which gave her pause. If someone that obviously angry were staring at her she might have fainted right away. Fortunately his attention was all on the robed man.

"Protect me from any other distractions." The man in the robe told the angry one.

Sailor Saturn was about to laugh at his audacity, but the young man simply nodded and began to look around. This shocked Sailor Saturn more than a slap in the face.

"Haruka… run."

Sailor Saturn looked over and saw her adoptive mother on the ground close to the temple wall and immediately ran over to her, dropped to her knees, and lifted her head into her lap.

"What happened Michiru-mama?" Sailor Saturn, Hotaru, asked holding back here tears.

"We made… a terrible… mistake." Sailor Neptune said between raggedly taken breaths. "You must… get… away… before he… notices you." She then closed her eyes as she began to shallowly pant, trying to regain her breath. Haruka knew that that was a very bad sigh, but felt helpless to do anything, for Sailor Moon was the one with healing magics.

"Just stay here and rest, I'll take care of that freak." She said as she laid her mother's head once again on the ground. Neptune had only the energy to open her eyes to give her daughter a pleading look. "Don't worry, Joram has trained me well." With that said, Sailor Saturn stood up and began her walk over to the man that was going to pay for what he'd done to her friends.

Switch Scene

Mousse couldn't believe what he was seeing. The strange fellow in the robe finished chanting what-ever it was that he was chanting and told Ryouga to guard him, and Ryouga seemed to be listening!

"Snap out of it Ryouga!" Mousse yelled at his friend in combat.

Ryouga just seemed to ignore him. So Mousse did the only thing that seemed to fit the situation; he hid.

From his vantage point in a tree twenty feet away Mousse could now see a young woman approaching from the other side of the masked man. He was glad that she was unhurt, for all her friends seemed to be out of it, but he was none the less afraid for her safety. He wanted to yell out and tell her to run, but that would give his position away, and he really wanted to wait for a clean shot at the man in the mask. So he held it tongue and waited for his chance as he watched the young lady.

"You have attacked my friends, hurt them beyond anything I've ever seen." The young lady called from thirty feet away from the masked man. "Now you will pay! Silence Glaive!" She called, and a large battle glaive appeared in her hand. If she weren't so angry Mousse would have chuckled at the sight of a little girl holding a glaive that was more that twice here height. Then he thought of all the warriors from his village and the mirth died away. All those warriors used similarly disproportioned weapons.

"What of it?" The masked man replied in a mocking tone. The young woman's face became even stonier. "They were in the way. I have only done to them what anyone would do to interfering insects." He then laughed out loud. "Slave; dispatch her." He commanded Ryouga. Once again Mousse was astonished at Ryouga's obedience. For once the masked man gave the order Ryouga dashed forward at blurring speed.

Mousse felt a pang of sympathy for the young woman as she stood there, defiant, bright, and deadly looking. Mousse knew, deep down, that Ryouga wouldn't hold back at all, even against this girl and feared that should Ryouga ever regain his faculties Ryouga would never forgive himself for this. But Mousse had to sit still and wait for his one shot at the masked man. Mousse said a quick prayer for the brave young woman.

As he was reciting the prayer Mousse faltered. For just as Ryouga was about to punch her into oblivion the young lady swung her glaive into a wide arch that took Ryouga full in the side. Mousse had to do a double take, for it seemed as though she hit time with the shaft instead of with the blade. Sure enough, as Ryouga was sent flying Mousse saw that she had indeed struck him with the shaft and not the bladed head of the weapon. Unfortunately for Ryouga that didn't seem to affect the damage the weapon inflicted upon him, for Ryouga was sent not only flying through one of the trees that lined the temple grounds, but through the wall and deep into the forest that surrounded the temple, toppling even more trees as he went.

Mousse was stunned. That sort of blow had most likely killed Ryouga, but the girl seemed not to have noticed it beyond what a person would for swatting a fly.

"Now no more games, fiend." The young woman said as she levelled her glaive at the masked man.

"Who's playing?" The man asked innocently. "I'm completely serious about wanting you all dead." He finished then began to immediately chant again. The young woman set herself for an attack, and indeed it was another attack. A blade that sucked in all light around it appeared in front of the young woman and immediately began to assault her. The hair on the back of Mousse's neck began to stand on end. He had a terrible feeling about that blade, and the young woman seemed to be defending for all she was worth.

"What's the matter? Weren't you going to punish me?" The man mocked as the girl was nicked on the arm by the blade. A black green light flared as it struck her arm and she cried out in pain. The man then began to laugh at her and it was all Mousse could do not to attack him right there and then.

Switch Scene

Things weren't going half as well as she'd planned. The masked freak in front of her continued to laugh at her, all the while that accursed blade attacked relentlessly. She'd been hit half a dozen times now, and each time it felt as though a part of her was being destroyed, and indeed the wounds themselves weren't healing as they should have, and were bleeding freely. She had to go on the offensive, but that accursed blade kept on getting in her way. It would also attack her if she took more than a couple of steps in any direction.

"Oh my, are you out of energy already little lady?" The masked man asked in that infuriatingly mocking tone of his. "Should I just end it now? As fun as this is, I do still have other business that must needs be taken care of." That said he began to chant in that strange language that always meant trouble.

As he began to chant the black blade winked out of existence. Mousse was glad to see that, but was still concerned for the young woman. She didn't look all too healthy right then, and whatever it was that the masked man was planning was sure to be quite fatal. Then Mousse blinked. When had that silver haired girl gotten behind the masked man?

Switch Scene

Asuza had had enough of the masked freak. As she lay there watching the several fights occur she concentrated on healing, so by the time the masked man was taking care of Hotaru she was healed enough to start moving again. So she slowly made her way around the side of the masked man, and then behind him. She smiled.

Asuza put her all behind this one last punch and was gratified by the feeling of her fist connecting with his spine, right between the shoulder blades. What she hadn't expected was for it to feel as though she had hit a metal wall.

Her hand broken in several places now, she stood and watched him stumble forward, his chant ceasing mid-word. For that she was grateful, but for the retribution she was not. It came in the form of a swarm of those accursed missiles that he'd been hitting them with. The force of the impacts sent her flying back a dozen or so feet. As the wonderful black of unconsciousness was enveloping her it occurred to her to wonder where Joram was now that Hotaru was back….

Switch Scene

Joram smiled to himself as he regarded his old sword. The sword looked much better than it had when it was first forged. To him at least, he conceded to himself. Not too many people out there would be able to tell the difference.

He stood up from his place beside the forge and noticed that Katreen had once again appeared.

"I see that you are done, this is good. Many of your allies are now injured." She said in that serene tone that she almost always used around him.

"I guess you bought me enough time." Joram said as he gave her his winning smile. "Could you bring me there?"

"Yes."

Joram sighed after a few moments of waiting. "Will you bring me there?" She was always the stickler for properly phrased requests.

"Indeed." Was all she said before the world faded from his eyes, then was replaced by another one. This one was almost from a nightmare. The Senshi were all down, his dragon messenger in worse shape, Asuza unconscious behind the Mage, and Hotaru panting as she clung to her planted glaive. Joram recognized the wounds caused by disintegration all over her body, and his temper just about got a hold of him.

"Hey, wizard!" Joram called over to the masked guy in the robes to distract him from Hotaru. It worked; the fireball meant to land at Hotaru's feet instead landed at his. Joram grinned. This sort of thing was easy as pie to dodge, and he did so with a quick jump and roll straight to the left.

"So you're not truly dead then." The Mage said with a sneer. "I should have known you'd be harder to kill than a cockroach." He then began to chant.

Joram smiled as he recognized the chant to summon fiends from the lower plains, so he began to call for some help of his own through a couple of dozen hand seals, nicking his thumb on the sword stashed under his arm, then completing it by slamming his hand onto the ground.

"Dragon Summon; Platinum Dragon, Bahamut!" Joram intoned as he stood up, his back to the dragon now sitting behind him. The Mage's summon completed at the same time and Joram was surprised to see not one, but two balors standing in front of the Mage. From what he could see, the Mage didn't look as confident as before.

"Who do you think is going to win this one Mage?" Joram called over.

"The one who kills the most victims!" The Mage called back, then to the balors: "Kill all those on the ground!"

Joram cursed under his breath. He should have predicted something like this. "Bahamut, please heal my friends on the ground." Joram asked as politely as he could manage. "I'm going to go kill that wizard."

"As you command." Bahamut replied as he began to chant a spell.

Joram then quickly dashed ahead to meet the first balor as it lifted its sword high over head to skewer Makoto. Joram got there in time to knock the balor's sword aside with a resounding clash of steel on steel. The balor looked down to regard him just as Bahamut's spell completed and every single downed ally began to stand up. Joram smiled as the second balor stepped back from the rising forms of the other Senshi.

"Now you're…" Joram stopped mid-sentence as he noticed that the Mage had vanished from sight. "Now that's bothersome." Joram said to himself as he regarded the balor in front of him.

"Hey, I was just summoned." The balor said as he raised a hand as though to fend off Joram. "You know, magically bound to obey one's summoner and all that."

"You fool, that is the Stormborn. Do you think that he'll have any mercy on our kind?" The second balor said, then promptly teleported away, presumably to the Abyss. The first balor regarded Joram for a moment as though seeing a rare and exquisite beast. A beast with very sharp teeth.

"I shall depart for now. Though know this: the Abyss shall know that you have returned to the Prime." With that said he too teleported away.

"Well, isn't that bothersome." Joram said to himself as he contemplated the now vanished wizard, then was promptly bowled over by a very happy Sailor Moon.

"Where have you been?!" She bawled and cried and then started to babble incoherently so that Joram couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Looking around Joram could see that all his friends were gathering around with mixed expressions. Makoto, Rei, Ami and Minako all looked very happy to see him. Setsuna, Haruka, and Tuxedo Mask all looked as though they either wished he were dead or, at best, not there. Asuza still looked like death warmed over, but she was alive and making her way over. Hotaru also looked better than when he'd arrived.

"Is there anyone missing?" Joram asked as he managed to quiet Sailor Moon down a bit.

"Ryouga-kun is over yonder." A young man in white clothing and very thick glasses said as he approached from one of the remaining trees on the grounds. "Ranma, on the other hand, seems to have been…. I don't know how to describe it. Turned to dust?"

"Excuse me?" Joram asked as he tried to figure out just what that meant.

"I mean a green ray of some sort touched him, or rather her, and she tuned to dust." The white-robed guy explained as he pointed to the pile of clothing where Ranma had fought.

"Oh, dear." Was all Joram could think to say. This was going to be a very tiring day.

End of Chapter.

A.N. - Well, I'm back. For now. This chapter had been bugging me, and bugging me, and bugging me!! Just sitting there and taunting me. Well, I finished it up. Now 14 is bugging me, and I haven't even started on it!!! Gah. Sorry.

Sorry, but you didn't get to find out who's gonna be training Akane in the fine art of cooking.

So, what's gonna happen next? What's with Ranma? How's Setsuna gonna react to having her toy taken away? What's so special about the new sword? And where are all the Konoha Shinobi going to live?

Find out next time on Dragonball Z!!

Kidding. ►_◄;;;


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